


The Adventures of Snufkin the Wanderer

by Sorin_Sunchild



Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime 1990)
Genre: Gen, friendly fantasy adventures and wholesome good feeling all around, local feral mumrik goes on adventures alone, then returns to his 'dear friend'
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2020-06-24 18:05:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19728940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sorin_Sunchild/pseuds/Sorin_Sunchild
Summary: What does Snufkin the Wanderer get up to when he's all alone? He always seems to have exciting or interesting tales to bring back to Moomin Valley. Let us join him on some of these adventures.





	1. Snufkin and Ellenora

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter one, in which a lonely old lady meets a mysterious creature wandering through the forest by her home and in which Snufkin helps her to be free of her fears and live her dreams.

Ellenora first realised that there was a child in the forest during her summer holidays. This didn't spark her as particularly interesting at the time. She was washing her dishes and happened to catch movement in her peripherals. It was great having a house by the forest and a window that looked out onto it where she could do some chores and enjoy the sunshine when it came through that way. She always looked up to catch a glimpse of a passing bird or squirrel. She'd even once seen a fox. 

'What nice lives they must live, these animals' Ellenora thought. 'They don't have to go to work or worry about getting lost in there. No bills, no troubles, just trees and food. Well, I guess hunting for food is quite a trouble.' She smiled to herself.

It wasn't too unusual to see humans passing by, either. The forest was technically public land, free for hikers and nature lovers alike. Ellenora had been into it a handful of times. She had a favoured picnic spot not too far from her house. If she could still see her house, she knew she was safe. In a way she envied those who could just walk around aimlessly in there. The child she saw today seemed to be doing just that. 

He was inspecting a fallen log with apparent deep interest. Ellenora knew that that particular log was full of small change that people have hammered into it for luck. She expected that he were waiting for a parent, after all, he were so small he couldn't have been much older than a year or two, maybe three. Ellenora looked down at her dishes for a while. When she looked back up, the child was still there. He was sat on the log now. She placed the last dish in the drying rack beside her and peeled off her rubber gloves, leaving them on the draining board too. No adult had appeared yet. She also noted that he seemed to be carrying a very large bag. Wait, had he ran away from home? 

What had been mild curiosity turned to a soft fluttery panic in her chest. Ellenora's children had long grown up and left her house, but she still retrained the concern of a mother. It never really did leave you. It was getting late now and no child should be out alone, especially in the forest. Children died that way. She stayed there at the window, biting her lip, until she heard a whistle. The child heard it too. He turned his head, face hidden in the shadow of his large hat, and seemed to head in the direction of the sound. Ellenora relaxed. So a parent had been around, just out of sight. She leaned forward over the counter top, watching the child as far as she could. Was that a larger figure just outside of her vision? Her mind was so eager for everything to be alright that it let her believe it were so without actually knowing the truth.

-

The night came slowly and peacefully. Summer was always such a dreamy time. Ellenora went to bed when the light was still golden on the horizon. She crossed the room to her window and opened it up to let some air in on this hot summer night. Ellenora paused there a moment. The trees were casting deep shadows now, obscuring any travellers that passed under the trees (if there were any at this hour). She wished she were more bold. Ellenora loved nature, she sincerely did, and wanted to be a part of it. She wanted to fill the lacuna in her heart with the sounds, sights and smells of nature. Instead, she closed her curtains and got back into bed. Tomorrow was the real first day of her holidays. Being a teacher had it's perks. Perhaps one day she'd really venture into that forest. Past her comfort zone. Seeing how boldly even a small child could explore away from their parent gave her a little courage. Yes, tomorrow she would go into the forest and she would go further. Ellenora would at least try and reach the tree she'd seen the child at. 

Ellenora got into bed. The night was so warm already, so she left her blankets at the bottom and turned her back on the window. Outside, just as she was drifting off, she heard the sharp sweet sound of a mouth-organ being played. It was a perfect lullaby. 

In the morning, Ellenora recalled the music she had heard and was sure that she'd dreamt it. Even so, the tune had stuck itself in her head and she hummed it as she prepared herself for the day. It wasn't a tune she'd heard before, at least she didn't think so, but it made her recall images of full moons, fireflies and rustling leaves. That lovely tune. Solitary and yet perfectly content. 

Ellenora had found that the older a person got, the harder it became to have a lie in. That morning however, she'd had the nicest calmest sleep and had gotten up two hours later than usual. 8am was a luxury for her. 

That was just fine. It was her turn to host today. Every Monday evening, when and if it were possible, Ellenora and her high school friends would meet up and share a drink and gossip. If their schedules aligned, then they would do it during the day. As luck would have it, this Monday everyone was free. They would arrive around midday, but Ellenora liked to be prepared. That meant sandwiches, biscuits and cakes and everything had to be clean and tidy. 

Pretty soon her house smelled like baking dough. Ellenora reached across the counter to open the kitchen window. Then she went to the back door and opened that too. Her garden was small, but well kept. Her short fence was bordered by 5 feet of grassy field that eventually led out into real fields and farmland. She'd always thought it funny how technically she didn't own that tiny strip of land that fringed her own back garden. Of course, she'd never had to work out the deals for the property and its tiny bit of land any more than her two neighbours did. Ellenora had simply lived here as a child and inherited it from her parents. Past that short bit of field was a much older fence that separated the farmland from the forest. The forest itself, Ellenora recalled, stretched many miles down the country. Well, perhaps not miles, but you could walk from here to three or four different towns only using the forest. Ellenora had never tried it, nor did she ever think she would. 

Ellenora looked out into the trees and was surprised to see that same child there again. Clad all in green from head to toe, with a feather it their pointed cap. A rather strange look even for a child. They were sat on that same log again, looking intently down at something on or near it. Their backpack was on the floor, and something long like a rope seemed to be trailing down from underneath the coat. 

The child looked up from whatever they were so intent on observing and met her eye. They raised their hand to her and it seemed they were wearing black gloves despite the heat. Their parents really let them dress themselves today, huh? Ellenora smiled and rose her hand back. She gave a little wave and retreated back inside to continue her baking. She looked out of the window. The child had not moved. They were still looking towards her. She rose her hand and waved again. The child returned her wave. She was certain she hadn't seen an adult this time and she was worried. Even though she could see this part of the forest quite easily from her back garden, technically it was fairly 'deep' into the forest from it's official entrance in this area. Surely the child entered from there and then walked this far. By themselves. Still they seemed fine and it would be weird if she meddled. They'd gone home when called after all. Still...so young. 

Ellenora told herself sharply to stop meddling in other peoples parenting and got back to work making her snacks. She had to physically stop herself from looking out towards the window every two minutes. Even so, she looked over fairly often. Each time the child was there. They were no longer looking at her, but back down at the log. Ellenora was preparing her food on plates. She wondered how a child so young had such a long attention span. They'd been there for over an hour, walking up and down the log or just sitting there and looking at it. Watching something perhaps. She'd never seen a child so deep in concentration. Then, suddenly, music floated in through the open door. Ellenora looked up from her sandwich arranging. The child was playing on a mouth organ like a professional. Ellenora went to the door to watch them play. Maybe they weren't as young as they seemed. They could just be short after all. Perhaps she were being pessimistic, but if the child was only around three years old like she'd first thought, then this level of musical prowess was very impressive. Perhaps they came out here to practice? But then they must have been out there very late yesterday night. She was sure this child had been the very same person who had played such a calming lullaby. After all, how many mouth organ players were out in the forest at any time?

Maybe more than she thought. Oh dear, she was in such a muddle lately. Ellenora sighed and tried to put the child out of her mind. She was angry at herself for being so strangely obsessed with them. It really wasn't her business.

-

"Ellenora, are you alright? You're away with the fairy's right now." Franklin smiled over his tea cup. Ellenora smiled, her cheeks a little hot in embarrassment. She'd been thinking of the child again and how it was normal to be worried about a lone child in a dangerous place. "Why don't you tell us whats on your mind, Elly?" Trust Franklin to help rope her back into the conversation. They'd been best friends since before Franklin's transition and if her own Theodore hadn't come along first they would likely have ended up together.

Peggy took herself another sandwich. "Is it the children? Did something happen?" 

"It is to do with children, but not mine." 

"You're not pregnant at your age!" Lulu gasped. She'd never been very bright. 

"No no. I've seen a child out in the forest by themselves." Ellenora rushed ahead quickly to stop more interruptions. "I saw them first yesterday, out by the coin log I can see from the kitchen. They were sat there for a good long while by themselves before I guess going home, couldn't be any older than three years old. Last night I heard a beautiful tune played on a mouth organ. This morning the child was there again, same log and they were the one playing the mouth organ. I didn't see a parent any where and I guess I'm just worried about them." 

Dehlia took a long noisy sip of tea. "Now, look at it logically. If they were lost, they wouldn't be sitting around so calmly, playing a mouth organ. If they'd run away, they wouldn't return home and come back out again. Parent's nowadays are a lot more liberal than we used to be. Chances are they told their child to stay there whilst they had a walk further on, or they let them rest there, or something like that. If you see the child there too many times in a row, you could consider calling the police, but I'd hate to bother them just because a child is having fun in the forest. I mean, we all played out in fields and forests from being toddlers. In fact, remember how we used to trespass to collect firewood?" Such a talker, but great at changing the conversation. Soon they were all clucking about the old times. Ellenora however, was still thinking about the child. She would endeavour to speak with them should she see them again, she'd decided.

"Of course." Peggy piped up. "It could be something else entirely. It might not be a human child you saw, but a changeling, having been left for the fae to take back."

"You're the only one away with the fairies here." Franklin scoffed.

Ellenora however, stayed quiet and contemplated this new idea.

_

A summer rainstorm meant that she didn't get that chance as soon as she might have liked to try and engage the child. In fact, Ellenora had became worried that the rain had scared the child deeper into the forest, or away entirely. There was something in the words that Peggy had spoken that refused to leave her mind. A changeling child. A fae creature. Sitting in the forest all alone. Something long, like a rope, swishing around from under the coat...

Suddenly she was sure that the child had had a tail. 

Crazy thoughts. She'd never dare to voice them especially not when the idea she'd seen and interacted with a fae creature didn't scared Ellenora at all. In fact, it delighted her. It excited her. Now she wanted to see it again and talk to it even more. They'd already gotten a little friendly after all and how many people could say that? 

The storm roared through the trees and around her little house for two days, sometimes seeming to let during that time and other times coming back fiercer than ever. Finally, it stopped, and the sun came out in such a blaze you were apt to think that it was some kind of competition. Ellenora was happy to be able to peg out her washing again. She owned a drier, but liked the way her clothes picked up the smell of outdoors and the crispness of the wind. 

She was thinking of nothing much, pegging the washing neatly to the line, when the sound of a mouth organ being played jolted her out of her thoughts. Ellenora jumped and dropped the peg she was holding. She bent down, fumbling for it in grass that was getting a little too long, and when she looked up, the child was there. They were strolling towards the log as usual, playing their mouth organ. They did not stop. Ellenora watched as they started to march past the log and felt a moment of panic.

"Wait!" Ellenora yelled. She ran over to her garden fence. She had to throw out her arms and catch herself, gripping the wood tightly, just to stop herself from being thrown over by momentum. "Wait, hey! Wait, you there, in the green!" She didn't have anything else more articulate to say. In the moment she'd seen the child pass the log, she'd known that they would not be coming back to it and she may never see them again unless she too wandering into the forest (and even then she'd have to be really lucky) and that wasn't likely to happen any time soon. 

At first she thought that they hadn't heard her. The sound of their own music had likely drowned her out. But they did stop, finish their darling little tune and turn back towards her. They rose a hand. Ellenora rose one back. 

"Please, come here. I want to talk to you." She tried to sound cheerful, inviting and as non-perverted as possible. If this were a child, fae or no, she didn't want them to feel like she was up to no good with this invitation.

The child seemed to consider this for a moment, then walked over to her. They were stood on the other side of the forest fence, directly facing her, with only the two fences and less than five feet of grass between them. Ellenora could see very clearly now that this child had a tail. It swished back and forth, low to the ground. Ellenora's excitement rose. However, she hadn't long to contemplate before the child was climbing over the forest fence.

"Oh hey, I don't own that land, you're not really allowed in..." Ellenora said. It sounded rather lame even in her own ears. 

The child stopped climbing. "Then I suppose I'll just go away then after all." They smirked. This child had such a deep and mature voice. The voice of a teenager or even an adult. Ellenora knew now she was not dealing with a human child, or a human at all. There was something vaguely magical and all wonderful about him.

"No, please do...I guess it'll be fine." 

The creature jumped down from the top of the forest fence and crossed that squashed and oddly shaped corner of field. He leaned against her fence and stared up at her. Ellenora didn't say anything for a while and neither did he. She observed that wonderful tail for what it was. Sleek but fluffier and darker on the end. Under his wide hat, slightly pointed ears were almost hidden. His hands were not hands at all, but the kind of paws a cat would have, should it grow to grasp things with them. 

"What are you? I mean, who are you?" Ellenora asked.

"What and who are both the same. I'm a Snufkin, and you can call me such too. Snusmumrikken or Mumrik for short is also acceptable." The creature said.

"I think I'll go with Snufkin. I'm Ellenora." Ellenora replied. 

Snufkin climbed up onto her fence and sat on the top, perched perfectly, one leg crossed over the other. "Are all Ellenora as tall as you? I've seen taller creatures, but not often."

"Oh well, I don't know any other Ellenora's. I couldn't really tell you." 

"Weren't you with some just the other day?" Snufkin asked.

Ellenora paused for a moment in surprise. The child - Snufkin - had been watching her and her friends? 

"Oh no dear, Ellenora isn't the name of our um, species. It's just a personal name. We're humans, but my name is Ellenora." She explained.

"Oh, sorry about that. I forget that personal names exist. Fascinating, how you need them just to know who you are." Snufkin looked up at the sky, watching a bird fly past. "But that makes sense. I heard that everything is proportioned differently in humanland. This is the tallest I've ever been."

"You change size?"

Snufkin looked back down at her again. "Not really, I suppose. But it's rather funny how sometimes in humanland I am this tall, and sometimes I am much smaller, and sometimes when I am much smaller, the humans are too." 

"I don't really understand that...if you don't change size then..." Ellenora mumbled.

"I don't really understand it either, maybe I will one day. It's just a kind of feeling I get." Snufkin smiled. 

"Oh I see um, Mr Snufkin, would you like to come in for some tea and biscuits?" Ellenora was sure now that Snufkin wasn't a young child, and if he were, he wasn't human. This meant they could talk more one on one. When she understood him. 

"I'd like that very much. But I shan't stay long." Snufkin jumped down from the fence. Ellenora smiled and led the way. She paused at the doorway. She'd always been a little superstitious, and they did say that you should never get too close to the fae folk. Never talk to them, let them into your house or...oh God...never, ever, no matter what, tell them your name. Ellenora looked back at Snufkin, who was waiting patiently to be let in. He didn't look like he would use her name to control her, even if he could. That didn't mean he wouldn't. They didn't really know each other after all. "Everything alright?"

Ellenora smiled. She could shoo him away now, but if he were going to turn on her, that would only anger him. He already had her name. Aside from that, Ellenora hadn't been this excited in a long time. A real forest creature, right here. A special event, a magical event, even someone of her age could have them. No matter how many times she repeated this to herself it just didn't seem real. She invited Snufkin into her home. 

Snufkin walked in with a slow purpose, looking around at the home of this new large creature. He'd heard of humans before, of course, but it hadn't occurred to him that they all had personal names. This was a new piece of information that he was glad to receive, a treasure. Shinier and more precious than any gold coin. It was something to tell his friends, as they had never even heard of such creatures and would be delighted to hear as much as possible about them. As such, Snufkin was drinking in the details of the tables, decorations, and cooking machines. He pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and climbed up onto it, making himself at home. Ellenora found this rather charming and put the kettle on with a little bounce in her step. 

The table was very small, pushed against the wall, with only two chairs. Snufkin had seen more than two people here before, and all of them had happily helped clean up the food and cups they'd used. In the Moominhouse, such behaviour would indicate that all of those people were staying in the house. This didn't appear to be the case here. They were just visitors. Still, two chairs. Snufkin looked around for more contextual clues.

"It'll just be a moment...oh? Where are you going?" Ellenora watched Snufkin hop down from the chair and start to walk around in his slow methodical way, really taking in her house. She was suddenly quite shy about it. As she got older, she wasn't able to clean her home to the standard she'd once held it too. She couldn't drag the hoover up the stairs any more, so had a smaller one up there she didn't think worked as well. She didn't wipe the skirting boards any more either since it was such a trouble to bend and rise. He was surely noticing all of this. Then again, he was also tracking in a great deal of mud. This bothered Ellenora a little, as she'd have to clean it, but it set her mind at ease. Snufkin was such a scruffy little creature, truly wild and without thoughts of extreme cleanliness. A basic level of cleanliness would be enough. 

Snufkin had taken out a pipe. He didn't light it, but kept it between his lips as a kind of comfort as he looked around. He was aware that Ellenora was following and didn't like that very much. It made him nervous. His tail swished in agitation. He was saved by the whistle of the kettle. When Ellenora went back to the kitchen, Snufkin took a closer look at some framed photos on a side table by the biggest comfiest looking chair in the living room. He picked one up. It showed a man and a woman together. Snufkin had not seen this man. There were no men's shoes by the door with Ellenoras, nor a jacket or coat Snufkin would consider to belong to a man hanging on the coat pegs. He thought that if he went upstairs, he would find the bedroom now made for only one as well. He put down the framed photo exactly where he'd found it, his soft paws leaving not a mark. Now he understand why the table was set for two. She'd been able to get rid of most things, but still left that place mat there, as if her love would return one day and desire a place at that table with her far more than his clothing or a bed. Perhaps that would be true. He returned to the kitchen.

-

When Snufkin returned, Ellenora had prepared a teapot. She didn't usually use her fine china to make tea, as she didn't want it to get too stained from repeated use. Now seemed like the right time, though. It was just a touch more fancy to have a cup with a saucer. Ellenora was sat in her usual place. Snufkin climbed up into the chair that had once belonged to her Theodore. She hadn't let many people sit there since his passing. Ellenora picked up the teapot. 

"Say when." She started to pour.

Snufkin looked at the huge cup and stopped her just over a quarter full. "I'll add my own milk and sugar." 

"Oh. Okay." Ellenora relaxed and served herself instead. She didn't want to mother him and would never mention how she'd thought he was a child.

Snufkin added a splash of milk, and one lump of sugar. As he stirred, he was looking out towards the kitchen window. From his angle, he saw mostly sky and the tops of the trees. "You must know that forest very well." 

Ellenora looked up. She watched Snufkin sit so properly, one leg crossed over the other, his saucer balanced on one paw with the other grasping the handle delicately. Then she followed those dark unfathomable eyes to the window. Ellenora could see a lot more. She could see right into the trees. Two walkers were passing by, heading back towards the entrance. 

"I actually don't go in their very much. I had an experience as a child that frightened me terribly, so I don't feel very safe when I go too far." Ellenora admitted. Snufkin looked back at her. He said nothing, but his aura seemed to invite her to speak. "I was around ten years old..."

"...my friends and I were out together in the woods..."  
-

_ "Wait, wait for me!"  _

_ Ellenora was scrambling down the hill after her friends. She was the youngest of the bunch and eager to be just as cool. Unfortunately, whilst Dehlia, Theodore and Peggy were all agile and easily able to dip and dive down the grassy slope, Ellenora was not. She scooted along, crouched low and shuffling delicately. She would stall any time the earth shifted under her. Her heart beat a little faster at each slip, even though it wasn't particularly steep and if she did slide to the bottom, her friends would surely catch her. At this time, Ellenora was mostly friends with Theodore at this time. They belonged to the only black families in the neighbourhood, families which had made friends to feel more secure. As the years passed and the area became more diverse, Ellenora would still remember how long it was before she felt confident around Theodore's white friends. Peggy and Dehlia were kind though and later, Lulu would come along, the youngest of the bunch.  _

_ "Everyone! Everyone, wait!" Ellenora was panicking now. They had all reached the bottom and were walking along the trail next to the river, heading for the 'bridge'. The 'bridge' was actually a tree that had fallen across the river some time ago. How long? None of the children knew. As long as they'd been alive and been going into the forest, as far as they knew.  _

_ Theodore stopped and waved to her, beckoning with one hand. He smiled and that smile warmed Ellenora. Theodore called to the other two and hurried after them, leaving Ellenora on the slope. She reached the bottom in a flurry of leaves and sticks. She stood and dusted herself down. Dehlia and Theodore were already over on the other side of the river and Peggy was following suit. Before Ellenora had even reached the log, her friends were disappearing into the forest on the other side. They called back to her, but were deep into their own games and talk.  _

_ Ellenora groaned and looked at the log. It wasn't very far from the log into the river and the river itself had been experiencing a record low. Still, she didn't want to get wet and have to climb out. Ellenora reached out and touched a part of the log where the bark had come off and the wood underneath worn smooth by many feet. It made her nervous. Even so, his friends were getting further and further away. She could only see the back of their coats, bright colours flashing between the green. This made her more nervous than the log did. Ellenora climbed up onto the log. Remembering her P.E. lessons, she put both arms out like she was playing aeroplanes and walked slowly across the log. She looked down at her feet the entire time and when she hopped off on the other side, her friends were gone. The only hint of their existence was the sound of their happy shouts and laughter. It seemed they'd found something exciting to do and forgotten all about her. She'd been bitter about that for a long time as a child and forgiven it as an adult who understood how the minds of children worked a lot better. Ellenora powered off after her friends, running at full speed. Eventually her shins started to ache and her lungs started to burn. She stopped running and took a moment to catch her breath. Surely, she should have caught up with them by now. _

She was, looking back, fairly embarrassed that she hadn't noticed the fork in the path and stopped to consider which way her friends had gone, or even just to listen to which way their voices had been coming from. If she had, perhaps she could have avoided this whole issue. She expressed this to Snufkin, who only nodded thoughtfully. 

_ The woods deepened all around her as Ellenora continued walking, sure she'd catch up to her friends soon. Ellenora had started to daydream a little, imagining finding unicorns and fairies in the woods. It took her quite a while to realise she was further into the forest than she had ever been, and surely too far. By now she should had found her friends. She couldn't even hear them any more. Ellenora stopped and yelled out their names in turn. No answer.  _

_ Theodore, Peggy and Dehlia had all gone right, on a path not as wide and well travelled as the other. Finding it exciting, they had run ahead to finally explore it. Ellenora had gone down the wider path, the one that seemed the most logical. Unfortunately, this path also made a sharp turn and ran the whole length of the forest towards the furthest point. Ellenora was on her way out. It would have taken her a couple of hours to get there, but Ellenora stopped when she started to realise just how lost she was. She turned back. She walked and walked and walked and when she realised the river wasn't showing up, she stopped to take a few deep breaths and try not to panic. Somehow she'd made a wrong turn, or gotten onto a side path or or...in, out, deep breath.  _

_ No, it was no good, she was crying. Ellenora sat down in the grass and cried even though it made her feel like a baby. Her eyes were becoming puffy and sore. She rubbed them and that only made it worse but she couldn't stop herself. The rubbing was an automatic reaction to the itchiness. Eventually, she managed to stop herself. Maybe if she just waited here, her friends would come and find her.  _

The story her friends told her was that they had noticed her absence fairly soon, though not as soon as they should have, and gone back the way they'd came. They didn't see her anywhere near the river, and after calling for her a little, decided that she must have been too scared to cross and gone home. She'd done that twice before after all. So, they'd all said goodbye and gone home. They had also expressed their sincere apologies about how much of an idiotic move it had been for none of them to have checked she'd actually gone home. When her father had called them all later on, only then did they realise how stupid they'd been. The relief that she'd been found hadn't shed the guilt much.

_ Eventually, Ellenora had become restless and started to walk around. She was sure that she could find her way back to the river if only she figured things out better. No matter which plan she'd come up with though, she never got close to the river. In fact, she was now more hopelessly lost than before. The clouds had come over the sun and before she knew it, Ellenora was caught in a rain storm. The rain lashed down, the wind picking it up and throwing it down under the branches. Ellenora groaned and put her hands over her head as though that would help. Looking around, she saw a tree that was on a small hill. Part of that hill had been carried away or dug out, leaving a hole in which she could crawl, sheltered under the tree roots.  _

_ Ellenora shivered under the tree. She tried not to think of all the worms and other creepy crawlies that would surely be there in the dark. Ellenora started to cry again. Eventually, she grew tired from the exhaustion of the action. Ellenora took off her coat and placed it down. The hole was tight and uncomfortable, but she laid down and napped anyway. In her dreams, Ellenora was still in the woods, running around and around whilst the trees shifted to close her off at every turn. She woke to her dad shaking her. They'd come out even in the rain, and found her. It had been a simple matter of looking for a place where a child would hide from the rain. It had taken a long time and her father had gone through all the possible emotions for the situation. Anger, fear, anxiety, panic. He'd told his wife to stay at home.  _

_ Ellenora clung to her father and cried.  _

_ - _

"For a while after that I didn't feel comfortable going into forest at all, but you know, I felt I was missing out. I needed to be able to see my house though, still do. If it's only a pinprick in the distance, I still need to be able to see it. When it goes out of sight, I turn right back around again and I've never crossed that river - at the log or at any other place." Ellenora finished. 

Snufkin finished the last of his second cup of tea. He had consumed a couple of biscuits whilst she told her story. They were very good and obviously homemade. He put his cup back on the saucer and hopped off his chair. Dry flakes of mud fluttered down to the floor. He headed for the door. 

"Oh, are you leaving? Please take some biscuits with you I-"

"No, that's alright. They were very good, but I've had enough." They were fairly large for someone his size. Snufkin stopped at the door. The sun was just past the midway point now. "Well, come along." 

"Me? Come where, where are you going?" Ellenora had gotten up despite herself. There was a certain kind of magic that Snufkin seemed to have or perhaps it were only her imagination. Still, he'd listened so patiently and kindly, never making fun of her or just telling her to get over it. It was good to talk about it and now it was out, it kind of did seem silly. She should try to be more brave. She'd asked him where he was going, but she already knew, and she already knew she was going to follow. 

"To the forest, past the river. I'm going to show you the best ways to find your path in a forest like this. You love this forest, I can tell, and you deserve to feel comfortable in it again instead of admiring it from afar." Snufkin replied. He took out, filled and lit a pipe from pockets that Ellenora hadn't even noticed. He stood smoking it at her door for a moment, then started to walk towards the fence. 

Ellenora grabbed a jacket just in case and hurried after him. She wasn't going to be left behind again. Snufkin however, was slowing down for her anyway. She wasn't all that young and he didn't want this experience to become too frightful for her. He didn't even know why he cared so much about whether or not one human felt comfortable in nature. Perhaps it was because nature meant so much to Snufkin himself. Perhaps it was because Ellenora was being ruled by her fear when she clearly wanted to be in the forest and needed help to be able to follow through on her desires. This was something that resonated deeply with Snufkin. He didn't mind waiting for her on the edge of the forest as she giddily crossed the 'land that was not hers' and climbed the fence on this side.

"You know, I used to do this as a little girl too. Just hop across the land and get into the forest this way. I'd forgotten about that." Ellenora smiled. She was already flushed with excitement and Snufkin knew he'd made a good choice.

"I'm a little nervous. You're not trying to kidnap me into the fae realm right?" Ellenora was only half joking. 

"Mumriks don't do that. A tree spirit might try." Snufkin had started walking again. Ellenora hesitated for a moment then hurried after him. 

"Um, tree spirits?" 

"Oh yes. All trees have a spirit but they don't usually show themselves to humans, due to how frightened of most creatures you all are."

"Well, we're only generally frightened of dangerous or supernatural creatures..."

"What do you mean by 'super'natural? I'm part of this world just as much as you are, made of blood and flesh and bone. Some creatures aren't, but that doesn't make them 'super', trust me." Snufkin wasn't angry, more amused at the way humans thought of their own perceptions of the world as absolute and correct. Anything outside of therefore must somehow work different, be 'super' this and 'ab' that. "I believe that humans used to be on much friendlier terms with a great many more creatures, both those who talk and those who do not. With the spirits of trees and rocks, with Mumriks like me, with Mymbles and Moomintrolls and Hemulens and Filyjonks. With trolls and ghouls, ghosts and Boobles and goblins and Snorks." Ellenora only understood half of those creature names. "But then you all either became afraid or angry at us. So, most of us hide. It's safer for everyone that way. I don't suppose we'll see anyone else, unless it's a human, on our adventure." 

"Oh. I guess you are right about that. It's funny though because we write a lot of stories about su--about creatures we usually consider frightening or incredible. Sometimes both." Ellenora mused. She kept looking behind her out of instinct. Her house was a very tiny dot now as they climbed up a small and steady slope. Her anxiety was rising, so she talked to try and push it down. The old lady knew that if she left now, Snufkin would not return. This adventure would be over and she'd always be the woman who had met an unusual creature and been too cowardly to share in his magical world. Snufkin had said that he was as natural a creature as say, a regular cat, but in her mind he was still something Other. A wonderful Other. Ellenora tried to think of him as something natural. The more they walked together, the easier that became. "I suppose all creatures I think are supernatural are real then. Like dragons."

"Oh no, dragons don't exist. Some creatures are simply made up." Snufkin replied.

This embarrassed and confused Ellenora all at once. "So, some creatures are real and some are made up. How am I ever supposed to know which are which?"

"Keep an open mind." Snufkin replied. He knew where the river was, he could smell it. Soon they were at the top of the slope that Ellenora and her friends had used a short cut before. 

"Could we just follow the path down?" Ellenora asked. She couldn't see her house any more and Snufkin wasn't terribly talkative. She was starting to feel very antsy. She hadn't been very good at going down this slope when she was a child, let alone now. The slope was also quite muddy from the rains, meaning it was bound to be slippery. 

"Look, over there." Snufkin pointed to a tree behind her. "See the clump of mushrooms at the bottom?" Ellenora nodded. "South from that tree leads you back towards your house. Do you think you can remember that?"

"Yes, I can remember that. Three large mushrooms and a tiny one, all by the base, facing towards the slope. And..." Something clicked in Ellenoras head. "Even if I can't see the tree, I know to go south now you've told me. So I need only climb the slope and go south and if I see the tree I know I'm certainly heading in the right direction."

"You've gotten the idea already. By looking for things in your environment, you can find your way most anywhere." Snufkin replied and started down the slope like he hadn't heard her before.

Ellenora didn't follow. She watched him slide all the way down, clearly not caring how dirty he became. Snufkin looked back up at her and waved. Ellenora looked down at her clothes. She could just wash them. It seemed so simple, really. Just look for things in the environment that were easy to remember. Why had it never occurred to her before? She also wondered what a person would do if there was nothing special around, such as the path on the other side of the river that was nought but trees. Ellenora didn't move. Snufkin, unlike her friends, waited. He stood there, smoking his pipe, face mostly hidden under his large ragged hat and he waited.   
  
Ellenora took a deep breath. Would he be able to catch her if the momentum carried her into the river? He might be stronger than his size would suggest. She looked at the slope and spotted a tree root that was sticking out. She slid her way down to it and stood on it triumphantly. Then, instinctively, Ellenora looked back. She couldn't see her house any more. 'The mushrooms, we can follow the mushrooms back up.' she tried to tell herself, even so the panic was setting in. If she didn't move first she'd never move. Ellenora pushed herself forward, his body seeming almost limp and yet heavier than stone as she was carried down. She felt Snufkin's hand (paw? paw.) catch her as she flew forward past him. He was indeed a lot stronger than a person might think.   
  
"Easy now."   
  
Ellenora looked down at her shoes. They were caked in mud and at some point something had caught the bottom of her tights and laddered them. Just perfect. She tried very hard not to sound grumpy or tired when she next spoke.  
  
"I think that's enough for today. It's a long time since I even made it to the river, that counts for something right? We can come back again tomorrow." She looked hopefully back at the slope, then decided she'd take the actual path. Ellenora marched with purpose back along the path. It happened to take her past the log before it curved up and around, taking walkers back to the top of the slope. When she started her ascent, Ellenora looked back and noticed Snufkin sitting on the log. He was sat straight, one leg over the other, prim and proper as he smoked his old pipe in his ragged clothes.   
  
"I won't be coming back the next day, or the next day, or the next. So, you can come with me now and I can help you find the markers to guide yourself or you can ask a friend of yours at a later date. It means all the same to me." Snufkin said.  
  
Ellenora thought about it. She already felt like she'd had a lot more exercise than usual, though she'd always endeavoured to be fit. But somehow the idea of inviting a friend along and having them see her panic (which she was sure she would do at some point) seemed a lot more embarrassing them having Snufkin see her. She supposed this was how therapy worked. It was so much easier to speak to a stranger with whom you had no other attachments or obligations to interact with in other places than it was to talk to a close friend or family member. You could tell these strangers anything. She could go as far as she needed to with Snufkin and if she panicked...he would help her, and the next day he'd be gone and that embarrassment with him. Ellenora turned back.   
  
It wasn't just those thoughts that got her back onto the log again, eyes fixed on Snufkin's tail as he walked slowly over it, giving her time to follow. It was the fact that she'd felt such a great sense of peace and happiness coming back into the forest this far. Though there were trails on the other side of the river also, they were as sculpted by humans as the ones in the 'safe' places Ellenora had frequented before. They weren't made to help people get their mile in, or to create areas for school trips to walk in and people to walk their dogs. They were created because people wanted to be here and wanted to move through here. Nature felt more real on paths like this.   
  
Ellenora's confidence started to wane however when she reached the other side. Maybe it was lack of adrenaline, but the heaviness had returned and now she couldn't move at all. Snufkin had stopped again. He'd finished his pipe and was in the business of cleaning it and putting it away. When he looked back towards Ellenora, he noticed the way his body seemed too rigid and how her breathing had started to become fast and shallow. He walked over slowly and took her hand in his paw. He didn't pull her, or try to shake her, he just held her large hand in his paw, black on brown, fur on skin, pads on palms. The sensation of two creatures touching each other.  
  
She swallowed hard two or three times, then licked her lips. This was not like before. She was not going to be left. Snufkin was here and he'd stay with her to make sure she was safe, only then would he leave her. He was a wild creature but that didn't mean he wasn't civilised or even nice. Ellenora removed her hand, still feeling the warm of his paw on his skin. It was a nice feeling. Maybe she'd get a cat in the future. Become one of _those_ old ladies. She chuckled at this.  
  
"What's the joke?" Snufkin asked. Oh how she liked his strange little accent and how he spoke.  
  
"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about something silly. I think I'm ready to go on." Ellenora looked at the log. "The log itself is a good thing to remember. Log, slope, mushrooms, south."   
  
Snufkin nodded and started to walk a little way again. This time Ellenora followed. Her face was set very grimly though, his hands tightly clenched. Snufkin didn't have to tell her to watch out for things any more, she was getting it all herself. He could hear her muttering to herself, making her list of things she could see. "Sometimes it helps to walk backwards and short while too, so you already know what it looks like that way." He turned and did just that.  
  
Feeling a little childish, but enjoying that feeling, Ellenora did the same. Her foot caught on a rock and she stumbled. This made her laugh. She looked at Snufkin and laughed. Snufkin laughed back, but only as long as she did.

"That way." Ellenora said. "Suddenly I remember...that stump there has been there since I was a little girl. I certainly remember passing it. I want to go that way again."  
  
Snufkin said nothing, this time following her lead. They walked for a long time and the sun was starting to set before Ellenora slowed to a stop once more. She didn't fancy being here in the dark, no matter what. Snufkin knew this, but prompted her to sit with him a while on a fallen log. They sat in silence for a while.  
  
"It's silly, you know. The idea of just looking for things to remember on your way back is so easy. All my later childhood, my adulthood and now, I could have been happily strolling through this forest just like I always wanted to. But I didn't even think of it. I just let myself be scared." Ellenora sighed, shifting the dirt under her feet with the toe of her shoe.  
  
"Sometimes you need someone else to say it for you. There's no shame in not knowing everything. I don't know everything. I didn't even know that your species had personal names, but surely that would be 'common sense' to you. " Snufkin said. She thought she saw what he meant. It was no good beating herself up just because she hadn't known something she, and others, considered to be simple.   
  
"...I wish I'd learnt it sooner though. Theodore loved the forest. We got married here, close to the house though. It would have been lovely to walk with him, just the two of us and the trees and the creatures." Ellenora sighed. Her elated heart, which had been floating freely before, drinking in the sights and sounds of the forest, dropped. "But the past is the past and looking back only hurts. But love never goes away, not really, not if it was real love. Snufkin, is there anyone you love that you're returning to after here?"  
  
For a split second, the image of his dear friend Moomintroll flashed into Snufkin's mind. He took out his mouth organ and pondered how best to answer that question. He didn't feel the need to pry deeper into this woman's own relationship as it clearly hurt her. Unfortunately, that was one problem he wasn't equipped to help her solve. But perhaps he could try, if he relayed to her his own thoughts about loyalty and love.  
  
"There is a place I like to go back to often. I don't stay there any longer than I want to, but I only go back there at all because of a special creature who is there. A rather remarkable Moomintroll." Snufkin replied. He seemed to be staring wistfully into the trees. "I used to feel sick because of it, you know? The feeling of loyalty, or I guess you could call it love. I didn't want to feel the need to return back there again and again, just for this one creature. I didn't want to make him upset, or have him pine for me and depend on me. Sometimes I tried being ruder so he'd like me less and that hurt too. I felt I'd come down with a huge chronic illness, one that would never go away and it made me angry and frustrated. Sometimes I would yell out at the night, or kick at rocks. I would play harsh tunes on my mouth organ and couldn't fish as well, due to being far too irritable."  
  
"Is it still like that?"  
  
"No." Snufkin looked towards her. "I think I'm starting to realise that, because he is such a true friend, I can tell him anything and he will understand. If I say I have to go, he will always let me go, and will keep himself busy so he doesn't feel as bad. I too, don't have to feel bad. When we're together, we do all we can. Sometimes that just means sitting together for hours. Any time spent in the company of your loved ones isn't wasted, even if it seems you're doing nothing or think of things you wanted to do with them when it's too late. I'll solve the other problems in time."  
  
Ellenora knew immediately what parts of that were meant to apply to her, and she agreed. Theodore had still gone into the forest alone when he'd wanted to. She'd never stopped him and he'd never been upset to leave her behind, because he knew how she felt about it. Sometimes they'd gone to the safe areas together too. It had always been nice.   
  
"You should tell this Moomintroll how you feel." Ellenora had always grasped that this love of Snufkin's was secret and new. "Like you said, you can tell them anything, so even if they don't feel the same way, I think you'll be closer."   
  
Snufkin went a little pink in the face. He hadn't expected her to pick up on that or offer such bold advice. "I've been thinking of a song for you. It's a courage song. Would you like to hear it?" Ellenora nodded and Snufkin started to play.  
  
As the Mumrik played, Ellenora sat back and looked up towards the sky. The sunset under between the treetops was truly lovely.  
  
-  
It was dark when Ellenora returned with Snufkin behind. She'd guided her way back without help and was feeling fairly proud of herself. She stood at her kitchen door and turned on the kitchen light. Snufkin's eyes shone in the darkness. She rose her hand and waved. She saw the outline of his arm wave back, then he was gone, back into the forest. She knew she'd never see him again, but that didn't matter. She had the memory of him and she had the knowledge now that she could always find her way back. Besides, with these fancy mobile phones with their GPS she couldn't get truly lost, right?  
  
But maybe it would be nice to be lost, just for a little while. Ellenora wondered if she could ever live a life like Snufkin did. Just walking, and never looking back. Exploring without fear, because there was no goal and no home to return to. No, this was a life only he could lead and he was so happy to do it. Out in the dark forest, Snufkin's Courage Song floated to her. Ellenora smiled.


	2. Snufkin and the Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2, in which Snufkin finds a cave of treasure and the monster that guards it and in which a Hemulen barber gets more than he expects as a payment.

Travelling was not always easy. As night rolled in, so did the rain, wind and thunder. Snufkin hurried along, the rain soaked him through and through. He'd entered a vast field now but by a stroke of luck, found a small clump of trees. One of these trees was a little hollow inside and he crawled in for safety. This was some time after his meeting with the human. Snufkin shivered and huddled as far back as he could. The ground below him was made mostly of dirt and squashed leaves. It was soft enough, but not as dry as he'd hoped. He unfurled his blanket and wrapped it around himself, meaning to sleep sitting up.  
  
For a while though, he stayed awake and watched the rain lashing down outside. It was surely turning the whole field to mud, which would make his trek towards the coast a lot more difficult. Ah well, soon enough he'd be at the mountains that split the muddy fields from the coast and he was sure he could find a spring of some sort to wash himself off if he got too dirty. When the lightning started, Snufkin jolted awake and watched the lights flash outside. He hoped that his tree wouldn't be struck in the night as it would surely catch fire. After some time, Snufkin fell asleep for good, completely at peace despite the weather. Snufkin woke early, but already the sun was baking the earth, drying up the muddy ground. Snufkin crawled out of his hole and was almost disappointed that he wouldn't get to trek through mud today. Not feeling like breakfast, he rolled up his blanket, fixed it to his pack and slung the bag over his shoulders.  
  
It was going to be a beautiful, hot _hot_ day. It wasn't long before Snufkin started to feel the heat. He reached up to wipe moisture from his brow and push his sweat-soaked hair aside. It was time for a hair cut, but he didn't currently have anything on him that he could use to preform such an action. He would just have to endure it for a little while longer. When it felt time to eat, Snufkin took off his coat and undershirt. His hat remained where it was, bathing the sensitive skin of his neck and shoulders in a protective shade. Already the signs of summer were settling on him and his skin was tanning more or less evenly all over. Mostly, it was just burning his face and making him way too conscious of every curve and movement of his body.  
  
He scratched at the parts of him covered in fur and yawned loudly and happily. Some days when it was this hot, it was tempting to want to lay down in the sun and sleep until it were cooler. All of his body craved such inertia. A delightful sweet sleep as his sun-heated body lay sprawled in the waist high grass. Snufkin contemplated this as he ate some seeds and bread and drank the last of his water. That alone showed him why napping here wouldn't be a good idea. He would need to look for water soon. A much more important endeavour, but not one he was particularly worried about. He would find it, or he would not, but something usually came around in time.  
  
Packing up, and dressing up again so he didn't have to carry everything, Snufkin supposed it was the Mumrik in him that wanted to nap all day. He'd met his father only once so far, and the Joxter was awfully fond of naps. Snufkin didn't think about his parents too often. He'd never met a creature, aside from Sniff who was too young to have deep talks with, that was part one thing and part another thing like himself. He could not pinpoint his behaviour to any particular part of any one species and had thought of himself as only a Mumrik for so long it didn't make sense to think of himself as only half of one. If he met the Joxter again, Snufkin supposed he could talk to him about such things. Most days it didn't bother him at all. These were the days when he was confidently himself and nothing more. He didn't need to be anyone or anything except Snufkin and was rather proud at his own uniqueness. That didn't mean he felt ashamed of wanting the connections to his father though.  
  
"After all." Snufkin said aloud to himself. "If one doesn't feel connected to anything at all, then one can become ever so miserable. Take the Muskrat for example, who thinks nothing matters. Perhaps if he had other Muskrats to feel good in the company of, or spent any time observing the beauty of a leaf or of the formation of a certain rock, he'd realise he's connected to all of that and how frighteningly wonderful and hard to comprehend all of that is." He gestured with his paws as he spoke.  
  
A sparrow, poking at the ground nearby, looked up from her work. "Are you talking to me?" She seemed to twitter.  
  
"No, no, just thinking to myself! Sorry to bother you." Snufkin tipped his hat to her.  
  
"Indeed. What a lonely boy he must be to talk to himself and wander all alone." Her own dismissal of him seemed to say. The Sparrow went back to foraging in the grass but thought of the full nest she had to return to.  
  
Snufkin did not feel lonely that day nor any of the days he was out wandering. He did not speak to pretend he had company but to simply sort his ideas and feelings out. That way when and if he said them to other people, they would be a little more fine tuned. No one said wise things without thinking about them a lot first, or so Snufkin would tell you. So off went our young Mumrik, gesturing and speaking out loud to nobody but himself. His topics changed and doubled back on themselves as they pleased, and the heat and time he had to spend travelling seemed to pass a lot quicker. Sometimes he would stop to watch an insect crawl through the underbrush. He would playfully tease it for a while, using twigs and leaves to misdirect it, then he would carry on.  
  
The mountains grew taller and the shade they cast was inviting, thrown long across the land like a beckoning hand. Snufkin sniffed at the air. He felt like he could already smell the sea from here. He knew he must find a spring or river first. As he reached the mountain, he climbed with only that in mind. After all these years, he'd gotten fairly good at finding water based on the lay of the land. Aside from that, climbing this mountain was fun. Few creatures had been here before and all of the paths were ones he had to forge himself. He jumped from rock to rock, clung tightly to catch his breath and took his time to work out the best place to go next. The sound of water was in more than just his head now. Snufkin sniffed, smiled, and started to climb upwards. He pulled himself with a grunt onto a flatter piece of rock. The mossy coating came away under his paws as he scrambled up and he threw the chunks behind him.  
  
He was glad his pack was not heavier than it was, or such climbing would have been troublesome. It was only two days ago he'd decided to just leave his tent behind, perhaps it was fate. Sometimes, he was a little superstitious. It was cooler here than it had been on the fields. Looking out, Snufkin could see the trees he'd sheltered in. It gave him some perspective of the distance he had travelled and wasn't surprised that the sun was setting so low behind him now. How easily a day can be spent! Snufkin licked his lips. His mouth was so dry he couldn't even play his mouth organ and his stomach rumbled softly. He could ignore it for now, but he had to get back to searching for water. He sat and listened for a moment, then stood up and followed the sound of the stream. He had found what he was looking for. A thin ribbon of water was running down the mountain and into a hole in it's side.  
  
Snufkin crept up close to the hole and looked down into it. He could make out the shape of a pool of water, no doubt filled by this little stream. He reached a hand in and felt a breeze. 'This probably leads right out to sea.' Snufkin thought. Snufkin filled his water bottle from the stream as it dropped into the cavern, then peered some more into it. His Night Eyes afforded him the ability to see despite the inherent darkness of the cave and the rapidly dying light. Something inside was glittering in the few pale rays that managed to penetrate the cave. That was unusual. Snufkin had imagined it was just a big cave full of water which rushed out to the sea somewhere. Maybe there was something else in there after all. Snufkin leaned closer and closer, trying to figure out what it was. He stretched himself out over the hole, arms and legs on either side of it as he looked down. The hole was slick from rain damage.  
  
Snufkin's pack slid to the side and pulled him down with it's weight. Before he could push himself back up, his paws slipped and he spiralled downwards towards the waiting pool. He had just enough time to twist his body into a basic diving shape before he hit the water. Pain rocketed through his stomach anyway, which had caught most of the blow. Snufkin grit his teeth, trying not to lose any breath as he paddled towards the surface. He gasped for breath and clung to the sides of the pool. Water dripped down into his eyes so he felt along with his feet until he found a ledge to perch on. He brushed his damp hair from his eyes.  
  
His hat, unaware of anything because it was a hat, floated by. Snufkin grabbed it and rang it out before putting it back on his head. It didn't have much shape to lose, so he didn't mind that it was a little lop-sided. From his position, he could easily climb back out. The pool may have been deep, but it's walls were thin and short. It would surely have flooded by now if it were constantly fed though. The river must be underground. There was a full cavern here though, cool and breezy. Snufkin perched atop the lip of the pool and he saw what had been glittering before. Coins, gold coins. Rubies and sapphires, quartz and tigers eye.  
  
All uncut just the way nature had made them. Except for the coins of course. It also didn't take Snufkin long to see what had been collecting these treasures. Laid upon the treasure was a salamander. A salamander that had grown to an gigantic size, almost too big for the cave itself. It's skin was dark, dotted with bright spots. It looked slick and smooth. It's rumbling snores told Snufkin that it was not dead and if he weren't careful, it would soon wake up. He would hate to get caught in it's rows of tiny but sharp teeth. Snufkin started to take long slow breaths. He stood up as quietly as he could. He wobbled and stuck out his arms to catch his balance. Easy now. Snufkin slowly eased his way down onto the carpet of precious things. They clinked together softly when he put weight on them. Snufkin stayed where he was. He needed to think. He couldn't just wander around on this noisy unstable carpet of treasures. His only way out would be to follow the breeze he could feel. It surely led to some kind of tunnel to the outside, which hopefully would be big enough for him to use. Snufkin wished he'd taken a drink from his canteen before he fell in. He was mad at himself for getting into such a situation, but there was no point in kicking himself over it now.  
  
Staying in one place wasn't getting him anywhere either. Snufkin tested out his weight on the carpet of coins and jewels. He tried to step only in places that looked to be mostly full of coins, without any large pieces to push in with his feet and cause a landslide. The coins clinked softly again. They were no louder than the soft movements of coins caused by the salamander itself as it's rumbling breaths and snores reverberated against the cavern walls. Even so, Snufkin proceeded with caution. There was very little light in the cavern by now, but that was fine for Snufkin. His night eyes afforded him the ability to see rather well in low light, but even he would be blinded by absolute darkness. Snufkin slowly rotated so that he were facing the way the wind was coming from. It kept the cave cool, but that only made his nervous sweat cold too. He could just about see, in the wall, what he thought was a crack. It was about as tall and wide as a Hemulen and would hopefully get him outside. There was a soft incline before the opening, if it were an opening, and not just a trick of the light.  
  
The going was slow. He stopped whenever he felt he'd made too much noise and held his breath. He listened for the salamanders breathing and then continued when it was definitely still asleep. Snufkin held his tail as upright as he could so it wouldn't sweep against the ground. When he got to the incline, he had to stop again. Snufkin noticed an old table propped up against the hill. It was half dug into it, right into the earth. Earth. Mud, dirt. The salamander had really made a home here. Now that he looked properly, a great deal of old furniture and toys had been taken as treasure by this salamander. Snufkin climbed into the table.  
  
It was metallic and has once been grey. Now, it was flaking with every touch and the dark orange colour of rust more than anything else. Snufkin steadied himself on top. The salamander turned in it's sleep and Snufkin held his breath again. He braced against the table and sprang. His body leapt through the air and landed smoothly on top of the hill. A small shower of coins followed him. The salamander snuffled, but stayed asleep. Snufkin stood up and took off his pack. Time for a drink, his mouth was starting to feel like cotton. Snufkin set his pack down beside him as he drank. He'd just screwed the top back on when he noticed that the pack was starting to slip back down the hill. It really wanted to get him into trouble today, it seemed.  
  
Snufkin was forced to dive after it. The cascade this time was large and gathered more and more treasures with it as it went. Snufkin stuck his boots into the top of the hill and braced himself against the items smacking against his face. He could hear the very loud sound of metal hitting metal as coins and other items bounced off of the table he'd just leapt from. The salamander did not just snuffle this time. She was waking up.  
  
The Mumrik got to his feet as fast as he could and started to run towards the crack. The salamander yawned and started to stretch out. It's tail lashed about. Snufkin dived under it and threw his pack towards the crack. It sailed neatly into it. The canteen in his other hand went next. Snufkin was about to leap and follow when the salamander's tail came down in front of him with a loud crash. Coins splayed up and clinked down again. The rustle of them didn't seem to stop for some time.   
  
"Bother."  
  
"What did you say?" The salamander spoke. "I said, what did you say? I have very bad hearing, you know!" She turned her face towards where she could feel the vibrations of Snufkin's movements as he edged away from her tail and claws.  
  
"I said, 'bother'. This whole pile of a treasure is a big bother."   
  
"A bother!" The salamander gasped, thrashing her tails and stomping a claw up and down. "How dare you, it's beautiful when the light hits it, what could a smelly little tramp like you possibly know?!"   
  
"Ma'am, I assure you I may smell bad but I know a lot about a lot of things." Snufkin replied.  
  
"Oh? Impress me, or I might just have to eat you right up." The salamander's snout was awfully close right now. He could feel her breath.  
  
"Hmmm...How about I play you a song, one I've made up just for you. A salamander song of your very own." Snufkin took out his mouth organ.  
  
"Ooo, a song just for me? Yes yes...but if I don't like it..." She snapped at the general direction of his tail and almost caught it too.   
  
Snufkin stepped back, had a quick think, then started to play. He started to play a lullaby. The salamander blinked, her movements slowing to a soupy crawl. Her large eyes closed and soon she was snoring again. Snufkin played and played, even as he headed towards the crack in the wall. The salamander was still blocking the way, but Snufkin was sure she was in a deep deep sleep now. He stopped playing and put his mouth organ in his pocket. Snufkin started to climb the tail. It was soft, wet and very hard to grab onto. He had to use his claws a little. Snufkin had just pulled himself on top when the salamander woke again.   
  
"Hey!"   
  
"Toodle-oo!"   
  
Snufkin leapt into the crack right as the salamander dived for him. The rock seemed to shake a little as her snout connected with the wall. She started to stick her tongue into the crack. Snufkin cringed as the hot wet organ touched his leg. He crawled along on all fours. His paws found his canteen and pack and he dragged them after him. He didn't stop until the bright moon was shining on him amid a cascade of pretty stars. He could hear the salamander cursing him from within. Snufkin looked around and realised he was quite a way down the mountain now, he'd have to go back up to get over it. He put his canteen away and started to climb the mountain again. When he'd reached the hole in the ledge once more, he gave it a wide birth and found a nice crook to settle into. It was a hot night and he hadn't expected any kind of adventure so late in the day.   
  


* * *

The next morning, Snufkin was woken early by the heat of the day. He drank more water, then went to fill it again. The stream was a lot weaker this morning, and he could see the salamander more clearly. She was drinking from the pool in the middle.   
  
"Hup, pff." Snufkin said, consciously copying his father.   
  
The salamander didn't look up, she couldn't hear him from there. He liked it that way. Snufkin carefully edged back from the hole and stood up. He ate the last of his food on the go, skirted around the flatter ridges of the mountain before climbing his way down. The ground on the other side was mostly rocks and mud. He considered that this is where the salamander must have gotten her mud too. If she could get out of that cave (and to eat, she surely did) he hoped he was long gone before she came out.   
  
Snufkin hadn't walked very far when he spotted something he did not expect to see right here on the coast, so close to a mountain and nothing else. A shop. A barber shop. He approached in good spirits. He had wanted a haircut after all. A Hemulen was stood inside, sweeping an already clean floor. He spotted Snufkin through the large front window and waved him in. Snufkin entered.   
  
"Goodness, a customer! _Finally._ Sit down, sit down. Gosh, don't just stand there and gawk." The Hemulen pushed Snufkin towards the lone chair. He grabbed Snufkin's bag and yanked it away from the poor Mumrik.  
  
"Hey!" Snufkin grunted. He reached for his pack but was pushed roughly into the chair by the tutting Hemulen.   
  
He took off Snufkin's hat and gasped, hands against his face in shock and horror at the dark mop of hair, most of which had been stuck under the hat. It also stuck out at random angles, completely dirty and completely untamed. It was both the Hemulen's worse nightmare and his dream. He hung up Snufkin's hat as the Mumrik grumbled, then put a bib around his neck.   
  
"It's a good job you came here when you did. Just look at the state of you. Long overdue!" Before Snufkin could protest, he was being tipped backwards, his neck meeting the cold rim of a sink. The Hemulen scrubbed and shampooed him roughly. Snufkin frowned, teeth grit against the actions as the the shampoo was washed off. He cringed even harder when the Hemulen rubbed his hair with a towel to dry the extra moisture.   
  
"You know, maybe I just needed a wash..."  
  
"Nonsense, now hold still."   
  
Snufkin didn't need to be told twice. A rough cut was the last thing he needed. Somehow, this was more terrifying and troubling than when he'd been trapped in the cavern with the salamander. Although, Snufkin had to admit, the Hemulen was good at his work. When he was done, Snufkin's hair was short, but not too short. It was a clean and healthy fuzz, styled to fit with his hat without losing shape. Snufkin put his hat back on and accepted his bag, feeling cooler and happier.  
  
"Ahem." The barber Hemulen held out a hand.  
  
"Excuse you."   
  
"Excuse me, indeed! This service isn't for free, you know!"  
  
"But I haven't any money." Snufkin said.  
  
The Hemulen went quite red in the face. "No money! Well, you shan't be leaving until you find some way to pay me!"  
  
"Now now, let's not get too hot under the collar here." Snufkin took out his pipe, filled it and lit it. "I can give you a whole cavern full of gold coins if you want it so badly."  
  
"Liar, there's no such thing around here." The Hemulen said. "You're just looking to run away."  
  
"I swear to you. Just follow me." Snufkin made a step towards the door. The Hemulen, curious and greedy, allowed him to go and followed after. Snufkin led the Hemulen back up the mountain, with the Hemulen grumbling all the way up. He did not lead his sour friend to the hole he'd fallen into, but instead to the crack in the cavern that he'd escaped from.   
  
"Right in there, my good fellow. I'm right behind you." Snufkin smiled. He tipped out his burnt tobacco, stomping it out with his boot. The Hemulen wandered in, still grumbling. Snufkin followed a little behind, but not too close.   
  
Soon, the Hemulen let out a cry of delight. He could see the edge of the pile of treasures and rushed forward to examine it himself. That was Snufkin's sign to backtrack out of there as fast as possible. The last thing he heard as he climbed away again was the Hemulen's surprised shout and a rumble as the salamander woke. Snufkin was sure the Hemulen would be okay. Probably.  
  
He'd at least learn a thing or two about greed.  
  



	3. Snufkin and the Great Shell Backed Laripet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Snufkin finds himself stuck with an unfortunate burden, the burden is finally resolved and everyone enjoys some seafood.

The sea was calm. It danced playfully upon the sand, white foam flicked like the tails of dozens of dresses and tailcoats as the dancers galloped up and down the sandy shore. The cries of the birds overhead seemed to be trying to sing along with a tune that was floating upwards to greet them. Snufkin played his Song of the Sea as he strolled along the beach. He'd been walking a while now, far away from the Hemulen's barbershop and far away from the mountains. It was still possible to see them, of course, tall and impressive as they were, but the beach was longer than the mountains were tall.   
  
Snufkin had heard from a fellow traveller that one could walk almost the entire length of the country just following this beach, with only an occasional break here and there. He hoped that were true. The sand was soft now, no longer the pebbled nightmare that had ringed the mountains for hours. The tide also did not come in so far that he couldn't find himself a nice soft hole to sleep in most nights. So, Snufkin walked, and he played. His mind was happy and light. He'd taken off his boots, tied together the laces and placed them around his neck long ago. The feeling of damp sand on his toes was too inviting. By now, with the sun blazing high, the dry sand would burn even the hardiest of feet.

'Well' Snufkin thought. 'It's been a long time since my pawpads have been soft, but I'm no fool.' He looked back towards the sea and noticed a few of the birds fighting over a fish that had washed up. The poor thing was already long dead, full of holes, some down to the bone. A larger seagull was scaring away the smaller competitors but as Snufkin watched, the bird sat down beside it's trophy and did nothing. It was not hungry after all, it simply didn't want anyone else to have it. Snufkin put his mouth organ back into his pocket and started to walk over. 

The trail of his footprints, which had been so straight, took a drastic curve to meet that fish. The seagull rose up to it's feet, then spread it's wings and started to caw. Snufkin spread out his arms and did not give ground as he approached. The seagull tried to nip at him, but Snufkin was quicker than it. He grabbed the fish and hurled it as fast and far as he could out to sea. It was descended upon before it even hit the water. The seagull, surprised and a little confused, tried to join the fray again. Snufkin chuckled, wiped his paws in the sea and continued on. He turned upwards again. The wet sand was nice, and so was the lapping of the cold spray on his walk-weary paws, but too much dampness was more of a problem than a help. He stopped at the end of the waves reach, where the sand was still damp and cool, but the sun could dry off his paws quite easily on top. He did not start up his song again, for he was thinking of fish now. He would have to catch some of his own soon, but that had proven a lot harder than usual.  
  
Snufkin recalled the day before. He'd travelled out on an old and busted peer and set about fishing. The birds, previously quite far out, seemed to realise what he was doing and started to land around him. Snufkin attempted to shoo them at first, then just let them be as it was too much of a hassle. Any fish he started to pull out was snagged quite easily, as was the bait he'd fished out from rock pools.

"Oh, off with you!" He'd growled as the bucket he used to keep the bait alive spilled and the tiny fish started to flop on the old wood. In the end, crab had been easier to catch and keep, but not as filling.   
  
He didn't want crab tonight though. He liked to fish, as well as eating fish, but where to go that the birds would not follow too? Snufkin considered his options. Perhaps what he could do was build himself a fire, wade into the water to catch the fish, then run like Hell back to the flame. Most birds were not too bold as to risk the injury that came with fire, and he could cook his fish in peace. Maybe if they were good, he'd throw them a piece or two. Then again, that would only encourage the scavenging. Snufkin supposed he didn't blame them for going for his catch. He was, after all, purposefully seeking out places they were flying over in order to fish there. Using birds to find fish was a very old technique, one they were likely sick of by now. They found the fish but everyone else ate it? The insult! Snufkin laughed to himself.   
  
"You there, seagull." Snufkin called. The bird tilted it's head at him and went back to it's fish, a little more defensively. "I want to fish soon and I'd like to keep some of what I catch. I don't mind sharing so long as you leave some for me too."  
  
The seagull looked up, seemed to nod, and then took off to squawk the idea to it's friends and family. Sometimes talking was the easiest way after all, rather than trying to trick or trap. Speaking of which, Snufkin did hope that the Hemulen was alright and not in the Salamanders belly.   
  
Snufkin dug his paws into the sand below him. He wiggled his toes and watched the sand shift off. Then, he looked back. He followed his footprints with his eyes as far as he could see, knowing that much of his trail had already been washed away during the nights he'd spent on the beach. The fact that they would all wash away, leaving no trace of him at all, was very comforting. Could he make it around one more corner today? One more cliff that had ran right out to meet the sea? Yes. That would be fine.   
  
As Snufkin kicked up his feet, he realised he'd unearthed a very pretty piece of blue sea grass. He picked it up and wiped off the wet sand with his thumb. It was almost perfectly oval, if not for the slight wobble at one end. The blue colour reminded him of Moomintroll's eyes and for a moment Snufkin considered keeping it for that reason only. That thought and feeling made Snufkin feel hot all over. He felt like someone had squeezed his heart. In his embarrassment, he hurled the seaglass far out into the waves. The plop it made was satisfying, but did not break the feelings. Snufkin continued on in more of a huff than before. He recalled that he'd one told Sniff that he'd never had feelings of love, let alone ones so intense they created pining in the heart. He hadn't technically been a lie, at least then. Snufkin wondered what had changed in him then. Maybe he'd just matured. He was no longer a child, after all. None of them were. Maturing was difficult.   
  
The cliff he'd spotted grew larger as he got closer, and thoughts of how to go around it became more important and more importantly, distracting. The cliff sliced the beach in half. Snufkin put his boots into his bag. The bag wasn't entirely waterproof, but he didn't want the boots tangling around his neck. Snufkin waded out as far as he could before he had to swim. He headed directly for the cliff side and used it to half swim, half scrabble towards his destination. He didn't want to get swept out, already he could feel the pull of the waves trying to play with him. It was a good thing that the sea was calm. As Snufkin rounded the front of the cliff, he heard a small voice call out.   
  
"Hey! Hey! Pull me out!"   
  
Snufkin looked around. He couldn't see anything. He shrugged to himself and continued on towards the beach on the other side.  
  
"Just a little closer, yes, just a little, I'll hold onto your tail..."   
  
Snufkin didn't like the sound of that so moved a little faster. Suddenly, something did grab onto his tail from somewhere in the water. Snufkin cried out a little, then frowned and started to kick away from the cliff, swimming with all of his might. The Thing held on tightly. Snufkin strained, the pull on his tail was becoming incredibly painful. Just when he felt that his tail would rip off, there was a soft gurgling pop and he was swimming more easily towards the beach. Something was on his tail still. Something that was moving it's way upwards, rippling and strong. It crawled onto his bag. Snufkin scrambled onto the beach and took off his bag, almost flinging it to the sand.  
  
On top of the bag sat something like a bird. It had a shell that covered only it's back, where the wings should have been. Instead of two long feet there was one singular, sticky-looking muscular foot. The bird head coughed up some seawater and fluffed up it's feathers.   
  
"Thank you! I was stuck under there for days and all my family has moved on. I don't think I'll find them again alone, so it's lucky we ran into each other!"   
  
"Excuse my asking but I've never seen a creature quite like yourself." Snufkin replied, moving cautiously towards it. He needed to check if his tobacco had gotten wet in its case. Everything else surely had and would need drying out.   
  
"Haven't you? I'm a Great Shell Backed Laripet!" The Laripet declared in a loud voice. "Expert fishers, trappers and travellers!"  
  
"But not experts at not getting stuck?" Snufkin smirked, sitting down beside the creature. The Laripet seemed to have picked up on what was going on and slowly moved off of the pack so Snufkin could start sunning his few things. The tobacco was fine.   
  
"Seems not...but as I said, I'm lost and I need your help." the Laripet sniffed. "Oh you will help me, won't you?"  
  
"Hmm, I'm sure they'll come back for you soon."  
  
"But they won't! They're headed to the lighthouse and they'll party there for days and then be so drunk they'll forget me!" The Laripet was, if possible, getting louder.   
  
"Lighthouse? Ah." Snufkin hadn't noticed in his haste to shed the Laripet, but on this side of the beach a lighthouse was standing out in the waves. It was old and crumbling, clearly abandoned. Even the lead up to it seemed to be crumbling terribly. It looked as if lightning had once struck it clean in half. It would do no one a favour as shelter when it was cold. The idea of having a party there would never have occurred to Snufkin himself. "Then I guess that's where we're heading tomorrow."   
  
"Tomorrow? Us? Yes?" The Laripet bobbed happily up and down. "Oh but if we got there faster..."  
  
"Tomorrow." Snufkin repeated. "Tonight, I fish." He picked up his rod. He'd consider going today.  
  
"Oh no please, allow me." The Laripet said. "I'm a very good fisher, I'll come back with something delicious, don't you worry!" And off it went at a pace that Snufkin wouldn't have thought possible.   
  
"But I like to fish..."  
  
There was no use talking to it. Snufkin took the last of his dried bait and waded into the water to fish anyway. He left everything else out on the beach to dry. He watched the bubbles rise and pop as the Laripet disappeared. As promised, anything small he caught, Snufkin threw up to the gulls. When he caught something sizeable enough, he headed back to shore.   
  
Snufkin was cooking his fish already when the Laripet reemerged from the sea, fish all suckling at it's shell before flopping out into the sand. "Quick!" It squawked. Snufkin got up and helped to collect all of the fish before they were washed back to sea. "See, didn't I tell you? Much bigger and nicer than yours."   
  
"You did, and they are very nice." Snufkin replied. The Laripet seemed a little put out that Snufkin hadn't become jealous.   
  
"Yes yes see! See here how big and beautiful they are, aren't they worth the wait? The smallest one is much bigger than yours. Our shells are just irresistible to fish!" The Laripet continued as Snufkin took his finished fish off of the fire and started to prepare one of the others.   
  
"Yep, you're sure right about that. What an interesting way to catch fish." Snufkin knew what the Laripet was trying to do but it took a lot to make him jealous. He didn't think he'd ever been jealous before. Little My had once indicated that he was surely jealous of the Snork Maiden, back when she'd been in Moominvalley and in love with Moomintroll. Little My had realised that Snufkin was closer to Moomintroll than he let on, even when Snufkin himself hadn't realised it. Even so, he'd never been jealous. There was no use in it. The two of them had been happy, and Snufkin had been happy with his friendship. That was all there was to it. If something like that didn't stir him up than being goaded over about fish wasn't going to.   
  
The Laripet gave one of its bubbly huffs and sat down beside Snufkin. It started to peck at one of the raw fish and left Snufkin to his own cooking. They still had plenty of time left in the day. Snufkin didn't feel like heading towards the lighthouse today, not really. Here, near the cliff, he had plenty of cover from the wind. Snufkin ate his fish, left the Laripet to the rest and started to play his Song of the Sea again as he waited for his things to finish drying, including the lower half of his trousers.  
  
Music, soft and sweet, floated delicately down the beach. The Laripet hummed along but since it had no lips, it wasn't very good. Snufkin didn't mind, it was the thought that counted. It was always nice to have some accompaniment.   
  
"That song...I've never heard it before." The Laripet seemed emotional.  
  
"I should say not. It's something I've made up all of my own. It's my Song of the Sea. I call it 'Saltwater Tears and White Horses.'." Snufkin started to play again.   
  
The Laripet did not try to hum again, instead it swayed and bobbed in time with the melody. It had never made up a song of it's own before nor did it know anyone else who had. It had heard music of course, but it was always some old tune passed down through generations, or heard from a boat, or from the humans that often came to the beaches. Speaking of which, the Laripet found it strange that no humans came to this beach. It didn't know how hard it was to get to this part of the beach, or that just past the Hemulen's barbershop in the other direction there was a beach heaving with humans. It didn't know an awful lot. What it did know was that it trusted this Mumrik to help it get to it's family.   
  
Snufkin stopped his song and looked out to sea. It was truly beautiful today. Warm sun on his fur and skin, a cool breeze to stop it getting too hot and a full belly. But he could see how antsy the Laripet was. He supposed that the more time spent enjoying himself, the further and further these silly creatures could be getting from their child. Well, adventure was adventure. He got up, dusted down his trouser, and swished his tail to get the sand out. Snufkin started to pack up his things, which were all nicely dried. He put his boots back around his neck.   
  
"Well come on then."   
  
The Laripet seemed surprised. Snufkin hid the evidence of his fire. He started off towards the lighthouse but soon heard the Laripet yelling. Even though Snufkin hadn't walked all too far, the Laripet was seriously far behind. Snufkin turned back and silently crouched down. The exhausted Laripet climbed into his pack and stuck hard again. It was heavy, but Snufkin shuffled his pack up and buckled down. It was dark by the time they were anywhere close to the lighthouse.  
  
The damaged lighthouse gave off no light, at least from the usual place. As Snufkin looked upon it, he could see several bright blobs through the hole. When they got closer still, he could heard the steady thump of music being played on pots and pans and make-shift string instruments.   
  
"My family!" The Laripet hopped down and suddenly seemed to have a lot more energy and speed than before. Snufkin frowned. He'd been tricked. It was easy for him to let it go, however, when he saw the happiness in the other Laripets eyes when their little one was returned. The squawks were shrill and loud. There might have been more than two dozen of the Laripets all crowded into the lighthouse, unafraid of falling when their sticky feet could hold onto even the smallest ledge.   
  
"You there, boy!" The Laripetpappa said. "You brought our baby to us, please, come join the celebration!"  
  
"You're too kind, but I'm afraid I'll fall without a full floor to stand on." Snufkin replied.  
  
"I have an idea!" The Laripet said. "Let's build lots of fires here on the beach, go fishing and have a huge cook out!"   
  
Cheers rang out happily. Snufkin agreed. A party was always fun. Snufkin stayed behind with the Laripets charged with making fires. They set them out evenly on the beach, using driftwood and anything else that they had, with plenty of rocks around to stop the flames hitting the sand. Snufkin started up a jauntier song whilst they waited for the fishers and all the Laripets danced and bobbed happily, some squawking along in a surprisingly musical way.   
  
The fishers came back out of the sea in a fleet. Soon the air was filled with the beautiful smell of cooking fish. Even Laripets like a cooked fish now and again. The music, drink and food lasted way into the night and well into the morning. Even when the tide lapped at the edges of their party area, they continued to play and dance. The fires died all on their own and the Laripets cuddled into their shells to sleep. Snufkin had laid out his bedroll and slept by the dying embers of the biggest fire.   
  
When he woke up, all of the Laripet were gone. They had cleaned the beach too. Snufkin yawned and stretched. Not everything had been cleared away. There was a little fish left, wrapped in seaweed. Snufkin smiled and had it for breakfast. The regular gulls were flying overheard again. The sun was pleasant, with a little cloud cover today. It was going to be beautiful.


	4. Snufkin and the Dolls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Snufkin stumbles upon some dolls in need and does what he can before heading on his way.

Snufkin enjoyed his time at the beach but no beach lasted forever. He was headed back North, to Moominvalley and to get there he had to cross the land again. Snufkin took one last look at the sea one faithful morning and then started back inland. His pack was fill of fish he'd dried and salted with the help of the Laripets that had popped back out of the sea now and again to say hello to him. There was also some drink from the party and his full canteen. The only problem with salted fish is how dry it made your mouth afterwards.   
  
With his back to the sea, Snufkin walked further and further inland, towards a short rocky face that promised grass and more varied flora on top. He focused upon it as he walked, trying to figure out the hand and foot holds available to him. The fact that he had to do this filled Snufkin with happiness. Untouched nature really was so beautiful. His mind drew back to the lady he'd talked to in and around the forest. He'd been distressed at first to see the trees end in rows and rows of houses where trees should still have been. The ending of them was unnatural. Fences were built around to stop them flourishing. Still, he'd shown at least one of these strange humans the beauty of nature. Maybe that would be at least one that wasn't set on pulling down trees and digging up the earth.  
  
He was so focused upon the cliff that Snufkin failed to see the hole in front of him, carefully hidden in the sand, until he was slipping down it. Snufkin thought briefly about how much he'd been falling into holes lately, before he dug his heels into the sand as hard and deep as he could to slow down his skid. He didn't hit the bottom of the hole this way, but he recognised it for what it was. An antlion hole.   
  
Only seconds after he realised where he was, Snufkin watched as the Antlion poked up out of the Earth. It was licking it's lips hungrily and laughed as Snufkin tried to scramble backwards. The sides were too slick and no matter how much he pushed his heels in, he could only push a little way before sliding back down to his original place. It didn't help that his pack prevented him from laying fully back against the sandbank. The idea of taking it off wasn't even one to be entertained.  
  
"I don't think I've eaten Mumrik before." the Antlion growled. "Go ahead and work yourself up, you can't escape, and your sweat only makes you easier to bite into!" He laughed as if this were incredibly fully. Snufkin didn't see what part of that was supposed to be a joke.  
  
Snufkin didn't even have time to speak before the Antlion was charging at him through the sand. It's wide feet and claws were made for digging through the sand and finding a grip in even the most slippy of places. Snufkin prepared himself for a fight. His face suddenly split into a large smile when a large white splotch of seagull waste smacked into onto the Antlions head. The Antlion reared back in disgust. Three seagulls dived at the Antlion, pecking and flapping. Two more flew close to Snufkin. He grabbed their legs and was lifted safely out of the hole. The attacking seagulls flew back up to the top of the hill. Snufkin watched as the disgruntled and dirty Antlion dived back into the sand.   
  
"Thank you." Snufkin smiled. He petted the one closest to him. The seagulls bowed for a moment, then took off again. Snufkin walked around the hole, giving it quite a wide birth as he headed for the hillside he would have to climb. As he got closer, he noticed something peculiar set into the mound. He never missed the chance to take a look at something peculiar. He could see right away that it was a door. A door fit right into the rock and dirt, rather than into a building. Sand had piled up all around the bottom, drifting up the sides where there was space to pile. Snufkin reached over and knocked on the door. His knocks gave a satisfying echo as the heavy wood was struck. He hadn't really expected an answer, but it was always polite to knock.   
  
Snufkin reached out and tried the door handle instead. It turned easily, but could only be pushed open a little before it stuck from the pile up of sand that had leaked it's way inside. The sound of small things moving was briefly heard inside. "Hello? Is someone there? Your door is stuck."   
  
There was no reply. Snufkin listened and thought he could hear the sound of many small things digging. "Perhaps they cannot talk." Snufkin said to himself. "Else they cannot understand me." He felt no fear. The day was sunny, he was outside, and whatever it was - was inside. If it tried to come out at him, he would run and he would climb. He was sure he would be safe. Besides, he didn't have any kind of bad feeling about what was digging on the other side of that door. Snufkin bent down and started to dig away the sand as well. He wondered how long it had been building up here.  
  
After a while his part was done, but the door only budged a small amount inwards when he tried to open it. Whoever was digging either wasn't digging fast enough, or wasn't digging enough out try as they might. Snufkin called in to them.  
  
"Hello in there. Do you need some help?" He wasn't sure how he'd offer it from this side, but he'd think of something if they said yes.  
  
"Oh...no...thank you...well yes but...just a moment please..." A small voice answered. It was such a tiny voice, smaller than Little My's (though she has the habit of making her voice much bigger than herself). Snufkin did as he was told. He lit his pipe as he waited. Smoking was a way to pass the time.  
  
After a while, the sound of small hands digging could be heard again. This time there seemed to be multiple pairs of them all working together. After a while they stopped and the same tiny voice said. "C-come in!"   
  
Snufkin put out his pipe and opened the door. He was surprised to find that the inside was as un-cavelike as it could be. The walls were panelled with wood at the bottom and papered deep red on top. Sconces lit up the corridor beyond with soft happy light that was nonetheless artificial. In the corridor stood half a dozen little dolls of varying sizes. Some were made of porcelain, cloth, resin and some were made of plastic. They had messy dresses, moth-eaten over time. Some had hair that was worn from where it had been rubbed or otherwise played with too roughly. One plastic doll was missing am arm. One porcelain doll was missing an eye and another had hers closed permanently by a faulty eyelid. Snufkin felt some pity for them. Toys were made to be played with though. A pristine doll was an unloved doll, or the doll of an adult. The dolls of children were always loved in a different very special way.   
  
"That's awfully nice of you but I have no time to stop-" Snufkin began, already tipping his hat to them.  
  
"Oh please, oh please!" Many little voices chorused. "Please come in!"  
  
The one who had first spoken, a toddler sized doll in dark resin, spoke up next. She seemed to be the leader and spoke for all of them. "Please do stay for a while. It's not often that we get a visitor who isn't another lost doll. Stay and play with us for just a little while. We do adore children so..."  
  
Snufkin didn't correct them on calling him a child. He supposed he was still in that awkward middle where he was not a small child but not all the way an adult yet. They all began to plead with him again. Snufkin had half turned when he'd first decided to go and turned back now. They hadn't made him feel guilty, but their insistence on him staying sure was a curious thing. The mumrik went from being content having just learnt what was inside, to more and more curious as to how these dolls lived and whether there were more in this cliffside home. "Alright."  
  
The dolls cheered and most of them hurried forward deep into the lit passageways. They called out to others, calling for tea and cakes to be prepared, calling about a child who had come to visit. The tall doll had stayed with Snufkin. She gave him a curtsy. Her ball-joints squeaked a little as she did so. She seemed strung very tight. Snufkin wondered if it would be rude to offer to help with that. After all, it would involve taking her apart. He followed her into the passageway, unafraid even as the door closed behind him. It did not lock, or even click in the frame as it did so. Without the sand to hold it, it would be opened very easily. Snufkin thought it must get very cold down here when the wind blew. No wonder the tunnel was so long before it opened up into a room. All around him the place seemed to vibrate with many running feet. When he entered what seemed to be a kitchen, Snufkin could count perhaps forty different dolls.  
  
That was quite a lot. Still more dolls laid inert at the corners. He supposed they were too broken to remain alive. They needed patching up before they could move again. He could do that, but he needed some things first...and he wasn't sure there was anything in it for him.   
  
The dolls had indeed prepared tea and cakes. The plates, cups and saucers were all mismatched and doll sized. Even so, Snufkin allowed himself to be placed in the seat of honour. He was about to wonder where they got these ingredients when he saw that the cakes were fake and the tea pot empty. Now he felt that he understood. The dolls seemed to vibrate with deep anticipation. Snufkin watched one pretend to pour him tea. He picked up the cup. If the dolls had breath, they were surely holding it, all leaning forward and watching. Snufkin started to feel unsettled.  
  
He blew on the 'tea' and pretended to take a sip, making a slurping sound as he did so. This brought great amounts of cheer from the dolls. Soon a tea party was in full swing. Snufkin and the dolls pretended to serve each other cakes that they then pretended to eat. They drank cup upon cup of pretend tea. They danced to music played on tiny instruments and at one point Snufkin found himself roped into a rather unfair game of hide and seek. The dolls were very hard to find in their small labyrinth to someone who didn't know it at all.  
  
"I think it's time I go." Snufkin interrupted their arguing about what the next game should be.  
  
This was met with mournful cries from all. "You musn't! We haven't had so much fun in so long...dolls only exist to be played with or admired. Here we get neither! If you stay we'll be so grateful, you'll help us truly be alive again."   
  
"If you want children to play with, why don't you go out and find them?" Snufkin asked.  
  
The dolls all went quiet, cuddling into each other and sighing. Was it something he said? After a couple of seconds of awkward silence, the tall doll spoke again.  
  
"We're too ugly." She sniffed. "People only want new dolls. Every time we've tried, we've been laughed at or thrown away."   
  
"Please..." Another doll sniffed. They started to plead all over again.  
  
The tall doll spoke over them. "Haven't you ever wanted someone to love you so much, it feels as if your heart was burst if they so much as looked at you the way they look at other people they love?"   
  
"Ah, no. I've never had feelings like that." Snufkin lied smoothly, but to them and himself. "I'll tell you what, let me go and I will find a fine doll maker to come and fix you up. They'll give you new arms and legs and arms, paint your faces, thread your wigs, stitch your seams, make you new dresses and shoes and ribbons for your hair, do all you need and after that it'll be easy to find someone to love you." It was a shame really. They were so much more interesting to look at like this. People were selfish though. They saw a broken or ripped doll and assumed it was dirty and could harm them in some way.   
  
"You've been so kind to us Snufkin...we believe you. Please please do bring someone back..." The tall doll stepped aside and Snufkin made his exit.  
  
He did know someone who loved to fix up dolls. A Hemulen who was almost not unpleasant to talk to. He also knew someone who loved to make dolls clothes and did so all day just to take up her time. A Fillyjonk who was unpleasant to talk to, but wouldn't back away from a challenge. He climbed the list thinking of these people and hoping they still lived where they had a couple of summer times back.   
  
Snufkin was still thinking about this as he came to the top of the hill and rested on top. Snufkin looked out from this view out across the beach and further still out to sea. He could see more of the sea from up here. The horizon always cut it off though. He would never be high enough to see the whole world. Snufkin took out his mouth organ and started to play out his feelings. As he played, he could think more about the half-promise he'd just made. He could go to those people but he also could just keep moving and never come back. It wasn't like he'd ever see them again. He owed them absolutely nothing, not even for the afternoon of strange fun.   
  
Yet the feelings of empathy gnawed at him still. He'd found that his shell, hardened against the world and all those silly people with their commitments and emotional tie downs. Now here he was, becoming one of those people. Someone who cared just enough to change his whole plan for the day. Well, why not? He wasn't doing this because their pleading had made him feel bad. He was doing it because he didn't mind delaying his forward journey, because he wanted to see if the job could be done. He would get someone to fix them and then he would leave. He would not stick around and find them all homes. He would not. Snufkin stopped his playing, got back up and started first towards the Hemulen Dollmakers house. 

-  
It didn't seem like the dollmaker was in when Snufkin arrived. Well, it was late. Snufkin pitched his tent to a tree in the small garden outside of the home and settled down for the night. The Hemulen also seemed to be into growing his own vegetables, so Snufkin took a few potatoes and carrots and made a stew with them and the last of his fish. He could have pitched his tent outside of the garden, but the sight of the fence had made him want more than anything to be right there inside of it. He knew the Hemulen would be pretty upset with him for doing that and maybe that's what he wanted. For the moment, his need to defy authority was so great that Snufkin didn't consider how he would be damaging his chances of getting the Hemulen's help.  
  
Indeed, quite early in the morning, he was woken by a harsh shaking of his tent. Snufkin yawned and stretched slowly. He stretched all the way from the ends of his paws to the tip of his tail. He took his sweet time waking up even as the tent was shook and the Hemulen started to yell.   
  
"You! You in there! This is private property!"   
  
Snufkin slowly left his tent. "Good morning."  
  
"Good morning indeed! Why did you pitch your tent in my lawn and eat my vegetables?" The Hemulen wore an apron on top of his dress. It seemed to be filled with a variety of tools. Small brushes, a magnifying glass, and metal instruments that Snufkin couldn't identify.   
  
"Because I arrived too late to wake you up." Snufkin replied.  
  
"Arrive too late t-!" The Hemulen seemed to choke on his rage and confusion. "Now you listen here."  
  
"You are the dollmaker Hemulen, right?" Snufkin interrupted, not interested in a lecture.  
  
"Dollmaker is a crude word, I don't just make dolls, I fix them, paint them, make their wigs and eyes and dresses. I am a doll master and...amateur gardener." The Hemulen puffed out his chest in pride.  
  
"That's good. I need you to do a lot of that stuff for some dolls I met." Snufkin replied.  
  
"Met? Don't you mean found?"   
  
"No, met. These dolls walk and talk like you and me."   
  
"Mechanical are they?"  
  
"I'm not entirely sure. I'm not an expert, like you." Snufkin grinned.  
  
The Hemulen visibly puffed out again, a smile on his face. "Yes. I am an expert, aren't I? How many dolls is it that need my help? I need to see the extend of the damage to each before I can decide if I can do anything about it or not...not that there's anything I can't do with a doll, of course."   
  
"You don't want money for this, do you?" Snufkin asked suspiciously.   
  
"You should never do your hobby as work, my boy. It quickly becomes boring that way. I have a cousin who is a barber and he-"   
  
"This way, I can show you to the dolls." Snufkin started to walk back the way he'd came. He didn't much care for that tent, which he'd found in the old lighthouse. He'd find another new one some other place.   
  
The Hemulen coughed and flustered, but he followed after him anyway. The walk felt longer than it needed to be for Snufkin. The Hemulen did not shut up. He asked all kinds of questions about the dolls. Snufkin could only answer a few of them. He really didn't know too much about them. They took the long way down the cliffs because the Hemulen refused to climb down it. When they finally reached the little door, Snufkin let himself in as fast as possible.  
  
"Fascinating! I never noticed this was here and I so often walk on this beach..." The Hemulen walked with heavy footsteps behind Snufkin.   
  
"Snufkin! Snufkin is back! Hello, hello, hello!" The dolls swarmed them in an instant.  
  
"Good gracious, so many dear little things!" The Hemulen had lit up with excitement. He picked up one of the smallest plastic dolls with one arm. She giggled and smiled at the Hemulen. "Hmm, yes. I can make a mould of this size no problem...this eye can be replaced, a new dress and shoes perhaps, painted hair might work best..."   
  
He seemed to have forgotten that Snufkin was there and instead was working his way around accessing each doll. The head doll was bouncy with excitement.   
  
"He really will fix us, won't he?" She gushed.   
  
"Of course I will!" The Hemulen called. "There's a lot of you but I work pretty fast. I'd say no more than two months..."   
  
Two months were a lot time. Snufkin did not plan to stay around that long. He wouldn't get to see them find homes, he supposed. But he still needed the aid of the Fillyjonk to find them homes at all. The one who lived nearby was a school teacher and surely knew a lot of children. Snufkin let himself out in the commotion that Hemulen had caused. Since he had such a long time and because he trusted that everything would be done one way or another, Snufkin didn't rush. If he could not get the Fillyjonk to take in some dolls and perhaps rehome the others, at least the dolls themselves would be more confident and try for themselves. Hmm, actually, that wasn't an awful idea. He would mention in passing the location of the dolls, but would not stick around.  
  
It was not selfishness that made him feel like heading off as soon as possible, it was the fact that already the task was weighing him down. There was so many dolls. All of them wanted homes. Did he have to help them, just because he'd happened to find them? Why was that a rule? He didn't know them. He wasn't the reason they were down there. He'd already done what they really needed him to do and confidence in themselves, or lack of confidence, was the real problem. It was that which had caused them to cower away in their cave.   
  
Snufkin smoked as he walked. He didn't ever want to climb down that cliff again. He wanted to move forward. Not back and forth and back and forth. It was almost like a routine by now. It felt stale. He wandered into a patch of forest he'd seen past the Hemulen's house, collecting wild berries and edible mushrooms as he went. The trees were tall, almost impossibly straight, with the branches all up high and reaching higher still. The sky was almost completely blocked off, but as Snufkin looked up he noticed how the leaves all stopped short of touching those of another tree, as if they were trying to be polite and give everyone their space. He smiled. It was coming around to Autumn in this part of the world. That meant Spring in Moominvalley.   
  
He stopped walking for a moment. A soft wind was running it's fingers through the treetops. Snufkin watched the yellow and orange leaves come tumbling down all around him. It was so beautiful. Snufkin stood there and watched until the light was too poor. He'd really had quite the day. Snufkin sat down and started to clear some the leaves away from the floor, creating a free area of mud to start his fire. He roasted the berries and mushrooms and ate them whilst thinking of another song. He always had a new song just for Moomintroll when he came back. Something that summed up all of his adventures. He hummed a few notes, hummed it again but changed a couple. He'd get there at some point. He re-used tunes sometimes, blending two or more together. He knew that Moomintroll knew this and didn't care. Snufkin smiled at the thought. That night he laid in a bed of moss that no one but flies and spiders had laid in before and slept very soundly.   
  
When morning broke, Snufkin found a clear spring to drink from and was on his way. Before he came to the school, Snufkin had the luck of meeting the Fillyjonk with a neat line of children behind her. He walked alongside her. The Fillyjonk scowled at him.  
  
"A proper young person knows to join at the back of the line." She was only looking at him through in her peripherals, and stopped dead when she looked at him fully. "Dear me, what an awfully dirty and wild looking child! Didn't your parents read the dress code?"   
  
Snufkin tilted his head and looked at the children behind her. All had their fur or feathers or hair slicked back. If they had tailed, those tails were perfectly combed and up at a 45 degree angle. They were clean almost to the point of shining and all wore the same red coat. They carried brown bookbags in their right hands and a lunch bag in the left. He was glad he'd never gone to school. He'd learnt all he needed to know in much better places.  
  
"I think I'm too old for your school. I'm more of a...messenger." Snufkin said. "Down by the sea, in the cliff, there is a house filled with dolls all needing a child to play with. The Hemulen is fixing them up right now and they should be ready in two months."   
  
"Why are you telling me this? Children who want to grow up smart and proper have no time for toys! No time! Oh dear me, look how late we are, it's almost time for the morning assembly, we've chatted too long! Come along children!" The Fillyjonk started to hurry off. The children followed as orderly as ever, but Snufkin saw a gleam in their eyes that hadn't been there before. One way or another, those children were getting a doll and likely they would tell the whole school about what they had heard today.   
  
That sparkle in their eyes gave Snufkin an idea for his Adventure tune. He played it out as he walked away, past the neatly painted school, and down the dusty wild road. Yes, this was enough. His job was done.


	5. Snufkin and the City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Snufkin lives his worst nightmare, albeit briefly.

"Sleeping right there!"  
  
"Right there on the moss top!"   
  
"Well, how are we to get out now?"  
  
"There's no choice, pull them down, pull them down!"   
  
Snufkin yawned and had almost had time to wake up and react to the whispering he could hear when he felt many hands grab him and pull him down into the ground. He gasped and his eyes flung open to find himself in a tunnel he would never have guessed even existed. The moss was not as solid as it had seemed, and a trap door closed up under it. Snufkin hadn't been able to tell that it was wood he was laying on rather than ground, the moss had been too soft.   
  
Moss grew down here too, bio-luminescent ribbons of it like veins crawled along the rocks of this tunnel. It wasn't hard for Snufkin's night eyes to adjust to it and he supposed the creatures that snuffled around him much have night eyes too to live in such a way. Not even sconces here, like the dolls had. Perhaps they were adverse to fire.   
  
"What is it?" One of them asked, the tallest of the three.   
  
"Is it a Bookish?" The smallest of them asked, peering from around the legs of another that had a fancy looking cloak. The other two were dressed much more plainly. Snufkin didn't know the meaning of the cloak, but he knew it made the other some kind of authority here.   
  
"No, it's snout is too short to be a Bookish." The cloaked one said. "And we drove away all of those nasty little things ages ago. This is something from up there."  
  
"I'm Snufkin." Snufkin said. They gasped, as if surprised he could speak at all. The tall and short plain ones now both hid behind the cloaked. The creatures regarded Snufkin. Snufkin regarded the creatures. It was pretty chilly down here. They'd dragged his things down with him, and he wanted to put his coat back on. He'd taken it off because although autumn was coming, it was still rather warm down south.  
  
The creatures that stood before him (or well, one stood, two cowered) were like nothing that Snufkin had ever seen before. He'd never been under the impression that he'd seen everything, but it was still great to find something that was truly new to you. These creatures were skinny, but hunched. They hadn't a single strand of fur on any part of their bodies except for the tails, which were thick and decorated. The plainer dressed ones had bands only of leather and metal. The cloaked one had golden and silver bangles and a silk scarf wrapped into a bow. They had short fingers but large palms, small eyes and long quivering noses with no whiskers.   
  
"And you?" Snufkin asked.   
  
The cloaked one drew itself up as tall as it would go. It was not at it's full height before it had to stop rising else it's head would hit the ceiling here. Snufkin could stand up comfortably.   
  
"We are the Perfect." The cloaked one said. "And Perfect are we. I am the guard of these tunnels and these two are collectors of the moss." Snufkin didn't ask what any of that meant, because he had a feeling that these creatures would be worse to talk to than a Filyjonk. It would be best just to find it out by observing them. He started to reach for his coat. Suddenly there was a swish of something long and thin coming through the air and pain exploded in Snufkin's paw. He had just time to wheel around, holding his paw to his chest, to see the rod that was used on him being folded back neatly into the Guards cloak. Snufkin looked down at his paw. A thick red welt had already raised up on the skin still only sparsely covered in juvenile fur.   
  
"You won't be needing that awful rag you were calling clothes." The guard sneered. "If you're going to live here you have to be perfect and you have to conform. That is the what being Perfect is!"  
  
"I never said I wanted to live here. I'd like to leave, please." Snufkin hissed, his tail raised and his expression angrier than it had ever been. Snufkin rarely showed his anger on the outside, or even felt it. It was the Mumrik in him, as Mumrik's very rarely got into situations that caused them anger, they didn't express it very well. It was the Mymble in him then which caused the sudden fiery burn of anger at being struck in such a sneaky and harsh manner. Snufkin didn't think of it this way, though it might have been true. He saw himself as just a Snufkin, and sometimes as more Mumrik, but right now he just saw himself as hurt.   
  
The Guard huffed. "You don't have a choice. If anyone needs our help to become more Perfect, it is you, my scruffy little vagabond. Now, let's get him."  
  
"Yes yes, get him!"  
  
"Yes, let's get him!"  
  
All three of them charged forward at Snufkin. He'd hoped they would have been a little more stupid and come one at once. Suddenly, his coat and hat and bag meant nothing to him. He would replace them all (sad as it would be to see the clothes he'd had his whole life be gone) if it meant not falling into the hands of these stiff and rude creatures. He dodged the taller one, who lumbered awkwardly in such a small space. The smaller, however, caught Snufkin squarely around the middle. Snufkin felt all his wind be knocked out of him and the world tilted backwards. Snufkin pulled his legs up as far under him as he could between him and the Perfect and pushed it away. Or, tried. It clung tight with it's wide strong hands until the other two could come and drag Snufkin up by his arms. They squeezed them tightly to the Mumrik's side. He tried to throw his weight back but they were a lot stronger than they looked.  
  
The smaller one stood before Snufkin now and Snufkin lashed out and kicked him over. It didn't help him escape, but it sure did make him feel better. The smaller Perfect wheezed against the wall for a moment, then coughed and straightened up. It was clearly angry, but the other two had serene faces of calm. Snufkin watched as the smaller one looked at them and hurried to match as if afraid to be different. Interesting. Snufkin took a mental note of that.   
  
"On we go. First for a bath, then new clothes, then an apartment. Later, the Emperor will likely want to see him and assess him." The taller said.   
  
"Yes yes, couldn't have said it better myself."  
  
"To the bath first of course, it makes so much sense, I was just about to say-"  
  
"On the tip of my tongue it was-"  
  
"Yes yes indeed..."  
  
They chittered on like this as they dragged Snufkin away. Eventually, Snufkin stopped hanging limp and allowed himself to be walked down the tunnel. Their constant reassurance of like-mindedness was grating on his nerves. His anger was soothed however when they came to the place the tunnel opened. It seemed that mysterious caves existed all over this part of the world. Snufkin had been surprised and delighted by the single room in the dolls cave (he wondered briefly how they were doing right now) but this was something beyond the scope of anything the dolls would have ever dreamt of.   
  
The tunnel didn't just open up, it seemed to burst open like a flower. There was an intensely bright glow coming from the very centre of the high ceiling. It couldn't have been the sun, but it flickered and glowed just like it. All around, buildings had been made. Buildings, underground! Tall ones, short ones - and roads! Roads splitting the buildings into neat streets. In the middle, a large ornate building stood dripping in silks and with bricks that were at least painted in gold, if not made of them. Paths were cut along the walls too and many of the Perfect was using them to take boxes and bags and sacks of things back and forth. The only one not busy was this one. They passed a sign on the way down that read 'Moss Top, Collectors Only, Rare Resource, Harvest with caution.'  
  
Snufkin tried to memorise the twisting paths and corridors he was being led on. As they started to pass some of the establishments, the guard told Snufkin their purpose. They stopped outside of each. Most were things Snufkin was vaguely aware of. Barbershops, shops for food and for clothes. Some were a mystery though.  
  
"This is the dentist." The Guard said. Snufkin looked inside the window. He could see one of the Perfect's sitting in a chair whilst another seemed to be screwing metal into it's teeth. "They keep your teeth healthy, white and straight."  
  
Snufkin, whose teeth were healthy but not necessarily white or straight, suddenly pursed his lips over his teeth. He didn't want what was happening in there to happen to him. The bath house, at least, wasn't so scary. Snufkin tried to break free the moment he was being passed to the Washer, but it was no good. The Perfect really were quite strong despite their thin appearance.   
  
The instinct to thrash and claw and bite bubbled up in Snufkin in a manner it never really had before as four more Perfect removed his boots and trousers by force. He didn't bother to protect his modesty. One of the Washers spoke with the Guard as the other three pulled Snufkin into a tub of hot water. It was almost too hot to bare.   
  
"Unhand me please, I've had rather enough by now." Snufkin said and so they did. But Snufkin also realised in that moment something the Perfect knew. He couldn't run away, because they would catch him, or he'd get lost and then they would catch him. He would have to wait until he was alone (if he ever would be) and try his luck then. So he had to stay there and endure what they had for him. The Washers took long brushes with harsh bristles and thick sponges into their hands. They soaped and scrubbed every inch of him they could reach or that he didn't put up too much of a fuss to stop them doing. Still, Snufkin thrashed and pouted and was glad no one could see how embarrassing this all was. Soap and hot water sloshed onto the floor and splattered against the wall. The Perfects were panting from the effort of keeping this wriggling thrashing fur-ball in the water. When they were done, the water was a deep brown and bits of wood and small dead insects floated on the top.   
  
They dried Snufkin with thick towels and things that looked like pistols but only gave out hot air. He'd never seen such things. "How does these work?" He asked as they fluffed up his newly dried fur and rubbed down his skin until it was smooth.   
  
"On electricity of course, what else?" One of the Perfects scoffed.  
  
"What's electricity?"   
  
"Ha! Doesn't know what electricity is!" 

All the Perfects started to chuckle and mock him for his lack of understanding. Snufkin didn't know what was so funny about him not knowing about something he'd never seen before. If they didn't explain it to him, how was he supposed to learn? He decided to ask someone a little nicer - if he met them. Snufkin noticed as he shivered under one of the towels, that the smaller Perfect who had been with him was not here. However, he returned quite soon and put an end to the laughter and mocking. He was carrying a shirt and trousers much like the Perfects themselves wore and a pair of short smart shoes.   
  
They all turned towards Snufkin in silence. Tension was thick in the air. Snufkin looked from those awful stiff looking clothes, to his piled in a corner, to the door. The Perfects looked only at him. Snufkin dived towards the door, happier to be naked than trapped here a moment longer. Just as predicted before though, with so many of them, no matter how he dodged and dived, there were too many to miss him. They held Snufkin down tight and forced him into the clothes. Snufkin was red-faced and furious by the time they were finished. He opened his mouth to try and let out some of the steam, his patience wearing thin. Before he could say a word, a metal comb was being dragged through his hair. The sensation brought tears to Snufkin's eyes. They slicked his hair right back. Snufkin reached to mess it up again and the guard once more chastised him by hitting his hand with the cane. Snufkin left his hair alone. For now.  
  
Some of the Perfects watched as Snufkin was marched by. They led him to one of the taller buildings. It had one door but many windows. Inside there was a single big room. Snufkin was marched to the stairs. He walked awkwardly as they climbed, often tripping. The Perfects tutted at him when he did, but he was having a terrible time trying to walk in these stiff shoes. His shirt felt too small and Snufkin felt something he hardly ever did - self conscious. Several flights up, they left the stairs and came out into a long hallway lined with more doors. Snufkin was led to one with the number 17 on it. A Perfect who had joined them some time before (Snufkin wasn't sure when, they all looked so alike, seemed to be proud to be so alike in fact) opened it with a key and they led Snufkin inside.  
  
"This is your apartment." The key wielding Perfect announced.  
  
"We shall summon you when the Emperor is ready. You will soon start your new job serving us." The guard said.  
  
"Can't I have another job?" Snufkin muttered. "Or none at all?"  
  
"Nonsense! You're not a Perfect, so you can't just have a regular job and-" They rose to their full height, something quite achievable now. "You should consider yourself lucky that we've given you a home at all! All of this costs everyone in the city so much you know. A little vagabond like you will take what they get and like it! Come along, my Perfects!" They all left, walking in time with each other, heads held in the same position, expression exactly the same. Snufkin heard them lock him in. 

Immediately, he reached up and messed up his hair. His scalp felt tender from the comb. Snufkin kicked off his shoes and watched, satisfied, as they thunked against the white wall and left little black marks. He only kept his clothing on because it was cold in this little box they called a home. There was an area with a couch and some huge black box. There was an area with something he recognised from human houses, a big cold box and an oven that lit itself. He saw a room that when peered inside of turned out to be an inside bathroom, and another a bedroom. It was all very small. Snufkin sat on the floor in front of the couch and curled up. He started to rock. He didn't want to be here. He didn't want a job and an apartment. He didn't want to think of his life as an endless string of mostly the same activities and all of the same settings. Nothing would make this life appealing to him, not even if Moomintroll were here beside him.   
  
Snufkin's throat started to feel tight. Soon it was like he was breathing through a straw. His rocked faster and faster, forcing air into himself. Then all of a sudden, he could breath, but his body was on fire. He jumped up and cried out his frustration and alarm. He tore the pillows from the couch and gouged them with his claws. He clawed holes into the wallpaper, smashed the glass front of the black box, upturned a potted plant and stuffed the toilet full of paper until it flooded when flushed. He pulled out all of the food from the cold box, throwing and squirting and smashing it all up. He was almost about to try and light the oven and set something on fire when Snufkin realised he'd gotten completely out of control.   
  
He stood in the middle of his wreckage, panting. Snufkin felt a little ashamed to have flown off the handle (something he'd done only once or twice before) but he also felt a whole lot better. In this messier space, done by his own hands, he did feel a lot more home. Snufkin crawled into the bed. He pulled all the pillows into a pile, got on top and laid down. He'd gotten food over his hands when he was wrecking the kitchen. Red and orange marks were smeared where he'd had to touch the white covers and pillows. Snufkin smirked and slept.  
-  
  
A unknown amount of time later, Snufkin was woken by knocking on the front door. He slowly rolled out of bed and slouched his way to the front door. Then realised he couldn't open it from this side. "You may as well come in."   
  
The door opened and the Perfect who had let them all in before stood there, mouth falling open as they took in Snufkin and the apartment. They stepped forward to get a better look, though not out of the way of the door, Snufkin dismayed. There was an uncomfortable silence for almost twenty seconds.  
  
"What happened in here? The apartment...your clothes...it's horrible! Why...why would you do this? Do this to such a lovely..."   
  
"Because it's not lovely." Snufkin replied. "Not to me."   
  
"W-well that's too bad! Get yourself sorted before the Guard comes back or they'll have to wash and dress you themselves all over again!" The Perfect was so angry it was almost jumping up and down.   
  
Snufkin, who had had enough with being forced to do things, relented and tucked in his shirt. He put the awful cramped shoes back on and combed back his hair with his fingers. There were still pieces sticking up here and there but it would have to do. Snufkin was only glad he'd had that haircut. His hair was a lot shorter than it had been, and just imagining having hair any longer than this being pulled and combed back made his scalp throb again. A bell rang downstairs.  
  
"My goodness they're here! Y-you'll just have to do, come on!" The Perfect put on that face of false calm again and hurried out. Snufkin followed, once more half-tripping at almost every step.   
  
It wasn't just the three from before that was there, but a whole procession of Perfects. He was the newest thing to stare at, it seemed. He was ushered in between two Guards (one from before and one he didn't know) and the whole procession marched rather solemnly towards the palace. Snufkin got the feeling that they didn't get new people down here very often. Maybe this was quite a grand occasion for them.  
  
The golden doors of the palace swung open as they approached and decorated doorman stood at either side, stiff and grave looking. The inside was white marble with silver rugs and tapestries. It was almost too bright to look at. The Emperor sat on a shining crystal throne at the end of the hallways, dressed in clothes finer than all the others, with a crown of precious metals and jewels and a large ornate sceptre. Snufkin thought he looked like a child playing dress up.   
  
"I am the Emperor Perfect." The Emperor said, though they could hardly have been anyone else. "From the goodness of our Perfect hearts, we have accepted you into our city. We have given you and will give you opportunities that your kind do not deserve, but that you will get since you are here. What say you to all of this?"  
  
A thanks was expected. Maybe even some grovelling. The Emperor had never seen a Mumrik before, let alone one that was part something else too. They planned to have Snufkin work in the palace as a kind of entertainment, or a pet almost. However, Snufkin had different ideas.  
  
"I say that this is the most awful place I have ever been to." Snufkin replied. A gasp ran through the crowd. The Emperors serene expression twitched. "I came here by accident and I never asked to stay. In fact, I asked to leave. You took my things, which I could forgive a little, but you also trapped me in your conventions and culture. You tried to change me. You thought that because you like apartments and think they are cute and cosy and good, than so would I. But I am not made to live in an apartment. I am not made for any kind of job or to stay in one place forever. I am not domestic like this. I am wild and I am free, because I am Snufkin. I will always be Snufkin no matter what. You cannot change me." Here, he kicked off his shoes again. They smacked against the stairs in front of the throne to another gasp of horror.   
  
"Besides. If you're all so Perfect, why does only one of you get to be Emperor? Nothing here makes any sense." He finished.  
  
"Well I'm...I'm Emperor because I was born Emperor!" The Emperor stuttered, not liking the sudden muttering that was going around.   
  
"So no one else is perfect enough, because they weren't born perfect enough? So you're not all perfect then?"   
  
"No no that's not it, just...just some are...more perfect..."  
  
"By being lucky."  
  
"By...no it's just...um..."  
  
"And how can you be more perfect than perfect? It all seems very unfair to me."  
  
"He's right!" Someone cried. "If someone is more or less perfect, our whole society will collapse!"  
  
"I should be emperor too!"  
  
"Me too!"  
  
"Me too!"  
  
Suddenly the crowd was moving forward, even the Guards charged with protecting the Emperor. They squabbled over who should get to Rule. The last Snufkin saw as he ran out, was the Emperor stood on their throne, bonking Perfects on the head with their sceptre. 


	6. Snufkin and the Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It which it's time for Snufkin to leave and he's going to do it fast.

Sounds of joy caught the attention of the Perfects who had not been in attendance at the court, which was many. They had jobs after all. Heads turned and tails twitched as something small and laughing came running down the streets. It's bare feet padded heavily on the pavement and road and as they watched - the shock! - it was actually turning cartwheels every so often!  
  
Snufkin was experiencing freedom in a new way for the very first time. Freedom that had come from actual escape from something. He saw as he passed, some of the Perfects come out into the road after him. They were not trying to catch him. They were laughing too and trying to do cartwheels. The children managed it better than the adults. He paused in his fleeing for a moment to show them how to do it and how to stand on their heads and do forward rolls. Many still stood on the sides and tried to look calm, but the youngest of them had not yet been downtrodden by the Perfect society and lapped up this delicious new take on life.   
  
Leaving them to it, Snufkin trotted on at a more even pace, heading for the closest of the paths that would lead him up the mountain. Before he could start his ascent however, a small furry paw caught hold of his tail. Snufkin jumped and turned around.  
  
Standing before him was another creature he'd never seen before. It was small and round, furry all over, with a long snout and a twitching pink nose and shaggy tail. It wore a tightly fitting and well loved red jumper and torn trousers. It was everything that was not as the Perfects were and that made Snufkin trust it more. The new creature rubbed it's paws together, long diggers claws clicking together.   
  
"Th-thuh-there will b-be guards up thuh-there, you know..." It muttered. It's eyes looked bigger than they were behind thick spectacles. "C-c-c-come with me. I'll l-lead you out the ssssecret way."   
  
Snufkin watched as it yanked a boulder with too much ease away from a hole in the wall just big enough for the both to squat in. Snufkin shrugged, with nothing to lose, and followed. The tunnel was roomier inside than it looked. The new creature was able to pass Snufkin even though it had gone in first and close the entrance by tugging at the boulders well defied ridges. Darkness enveloped them. Snufkin felt the creature pass him, heard it's claws clicking on the stone bellow, but could not see it. It called to him to follow and Snufkin started forward very carefully. His night eyes were not useful in complete darkness.  
  
Evidently, the creature must have pulled very far ahead by accident as it now sounded like it was scurrying back very quickly. Snufkin felt something warm and furry be pressed into his paws.   
  
"P-puh-please hold on. Th-thuh-th-there's light in the mmmain chamb-bers."   
  
Snufkin understood he was holding his new friends tail and did so very delicately as he was led along. It was a good while before he saw the soft glow of many lanterns coming from a larger room up ahead. He laughed a little when he saw what they'd come to, his paws letting go of his friends tail. It was the most gigantic and disorganised library that Snufkin had ever seen. Each set of shelves was built into the stone or mud at whatever angle it best fit. The shelves were not only full of books, but books were crammed into the small spaces on top of the shelved books and sat piled around the fronts of the bookcases where no room had been found. Two large comfy chairs and a dozen of so carefully placed lanterns were the only things in the room that weren't books. Well, and the creature and Snufkin of course. The creature looked a little worried by that laugh.  
  
"My friend, since coming here I never thought I'd ever see another creature that just did things because they loved them and it was fun, again." Snufkin grinned. "But everything about you shows me you love books, truly love stories, and want to cram as many of them into your life as you can."   
  
The creature perked up a little. "Oh y-yes! That's exactly it! I'm a B-Bookish, after all. It's what we are known for um...were, known for..." Now The Bookish was more relaxed, Snufkin noticed he were selecting his words more carefully to try and avoid stammering.   
  
"Were?"  
  
"The B-B-Bookish were in this c-cavern b-before those awful P-P-Puh-Perfects!" No good, it was getting riled up. The Bookish jumped onto one of his chairs as if this speech needed a podium. "They only e-ever b-bothered to learn our nnnname and then d-drove us out! Now they c-call any old cr-creat-ture that looks even a l-little like us 'Bookish' even when they are c-clearly nnnot!" He looked quite sweaty and worked up after this.  
  
"Hmm yes, I got the idea that they weren't much interested in actually learning about others." Snufkin fiddled for his pipe and was painfully reminded of it's absence when even the pockets of his clothes were in the wrong place.  
  
"Oh! I know what you're after!"   
  
The Bookish hopped down and disappeared into one of the side pockets of this library. He came back carrying a bundle. It was all of Snufkin's things, neatly folded up. Snufkin took them with gratitude and disbelief dancing on his face. He changed into them right there and lit up his pipe.  
  
"D-do be careful." The Bookish smiled, but did not try to force him to put it out. "I sssaw them take your stuff and I thought 'w-well isn't that just like them! p-poor thing!' so I c-carefully took them b-back...I know all the sssecret ways here." He was very proud of that. Snufkin was proud of him too, for doing all he could to survive just to spite the Perfects. He didn't say this, but the aura was felt as he smoked his pipe and relaxed his muscles.  
  
"Wh-when you're ready, w-w-we can go." The Bookish replied. He pushed open a bookcase that was also a door and pointed at the stairway beyond. Snufkin nodded and they ascended. He'd never been so happy to breath fresh air and hear bird song.   
  
"Thank you my friend. I hope one day we'll meet again so I can repay the favour." Snufkin said.  
  
"N-no way! No rep-payment needed! I j-just wanted to help!" The Bookish said, grinning. Snufkin felt that he was sincere about this and nodded. He turned without saying goodbye and felt the Bookish' eyes on him for a long time. Then there was a small snap as the trapdoor shut behind the Bookish' retreating form.   
  
Ah, it felt so good to be back in his old boots, with the right heel wearing away and the colour all hidden under mud! So nice to be in his comfortable pants and coat with their ripped edges and patched holes! Oh, the comfortable snugness of his old beaten hat that hardly had any shape any more! Something was different though, his pack felt heavier. Snufkin stopped and took a look inside. The Bookish had given him a tent, as well as filled his waterskin and rolled some bread and cheese into a handkerchief for him to eat. Snufkin smiled again and continued on.   
  
The weather had turned sour again, but Snufkin didn't care. He found a willow tree to camp under. The new tent was not in itself, new, and that made it feel better to Snufkin. He laid it in, playing his mouth organ on his back and thinking about all those he'd left behind right now. He wished all of them well, in his own way, but knew that after today he likely wouldn't think of them too much or for too long. Their problems were their own and he was no longer a part of them now.  
  
What he was apart of was right here as the wind rustled the sides of his tent and rain drummed like thousands of tiny fingers upon it. He was a part of that wind and rain. Not hiding from it in the tent, so much as just making sure they didn't fight with each other. The long branches of the willow tree brushed up against his tent like loving fingers. Somewhere, water burbled over a small incline. Even in the wind, Snufkin could hear the chirp of insects, no doubt somewhere dry like him and still wanting to play their music. Snufkin matched their melody. His heart seemed to beat in time with all the rest of the world. Snufkin was at peace.


	7. Snufkin and the Arrows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Snufkin finds a trail that leads nowhere and everywhere all at once.

_"Snufkin..."_   
  
_A whisper, so soft, so tender._   
  
_"Snuf...kin..."_   
  
_It sounded almost familiar._   
  
_"Snufkin...come and see..."_   
  
_Fading...fading back into the soup of sleep now._   
  
  


Snufkin woke up with the voice still ringing in his head. Hmm. Strange. Snufkin ran a hand through his spring time fuzz. He had vivid dreams all of the time. It was probably nothing. Snufkin poke his head out of his tent and took a deep breath. He sighed contentedly. The weather had catapulted from wild and windy to bright and cheerful. He could hear the sound of the trickling water again, harsher. The streams that fed the nearby lake were swollen and flooded now. Even the sun was drying the earth, water dripped from the willow branches and still made delightful tapping sounds on his tent. Snufkin smiled.  
  
He wrapped up against the slight chill of the morning and headed out. He still had his fishing rod and slung it over his back as he looked for a good spot to sit and fish. Bread and cheese was okay, but he did so like a good fish. Snufkin hummed as he walked, his boots making delightful squishing sounds in the mud. Birds were singing again now. No matter how cold it got, at least one species of bird would stay put.   
  
"Don't you ever want to go south?" Snufkin asked a corvid that was pecking at some grass. It strutted a little towards him but said nothing, then strutted back again. Snufkin watched it strut until it flew away and then noticed it had dropped quite a lot of feathers. He got up close to inspect them and was amused to see that they had formed a perfect arrow pointing at one corner of the lake. "Alright then." He smiled.  
  
The spot that the arrow seemed to be pointing at was at a slight corner between the lake and a small river that fed it. Snufkin sat down. Soon, he was casting his line into the water. It seemed not even a minute later he was feeling a tug at his line. Oh, wow. Snufkin reeled in the line. A small silver fish wriggled on his line. He noticed even as it flopped that the fish had a clear arrow pattern in bright blue on it's otherwise dull scales. As Snufkin watched it broke free of his line and flopped on the ground for a while. Snufkin looked the way the arrow was pointing and saw what seemed to be someone or something standing in the tree. He let it flop into the water. Putting his rod over his shoulder, Snufkin walked towards the figure.   
  
It turned out to be a large carved owl. One of it's big glass eyes was missing. Someone had scrawled an arrow over the belly of the owl. It was pointing at an angle into the trees. Snufkin chuckled, left his rod with the owl, and started to climb the tree the owl was pointing at. His claws dug neatly into the bark as he pulled himself up onto the branch closest to where the arrow had pointed. Maybe these arrows were some game someone had set up. Although, how someone would have guaranteed that he caught that particular fish...  
  
Snufkin looked back down, trying to spot the owl. It was gone. There was a depression in the grass where it had been. Snufkin felt a little cold all of a sudden. He was about to get down when a squirrel jumped onto the branch beside him. It regarded him for a moment, then visibly turned and pointed into the distance. The squirrel then disappeared down the tree trunk.   
  
Should he follow that pointing finger? Snufkin was quite superstitious. But he was also recklessly curious. He was sure that if he stayed vigilant, he would stay safe. Snufkin slid down the tree and started to walk in the direction that he'd been pointed. He only hoped he was going the right way, with nothing to navigate by now. The owl was still gone, as was his rod.

He wasn't sure if he should be following these arrows. Yet, his feet were carrying him anyway. Snufkin cut a path through thick brush and a dense coating of fallen leaves. They alternatively squished and crunched under his boots. Occasionally he had to pull away a clinging plant or push through a thick patch of grass with both hands. The trees were growing denser here, impossibly dense. Snufkin felt that he would soon find what he was looking for though. He felt, rather than knew, that there would be no arrow until he was ready to find it and therefore any direction in this general area was the right one.

Sure enough, Snufkin soon came across a large tree that had a patch of moss that had grown in the shape of a perfect arrow. It was pointing west, along a path that was more defined by the passing of creatures. Snufkin followed. He wondered how close, or far, he was from the end of the arrows. He wondered if there was an end of the arrows. Maybe there wasn't. Maybe there were just more arrows, arrows and arrows and arrows. If he turned back, he'd never find out. But if he kept going, he could be doing this forever.   
  
Still, he found his feet following the new arrow almost without his input. Snufkin lost the feeling of time. He found an arrow carved into a rock, an arrow made by flying birds, an arrow written in the gaps of a creeping vine and an arrow in the glittering pebbles in a shallow stream. Soon the sun was going down and Snufkin realised he hadn't eaten all day. That was fine, but he really needed to drink. "Gee, I'm thirsty." He said out loud absentmindedly. He was walking across a large field now. He avoided a ring of mushrooms that was growing merrily in the grass. His boot kicked something in his grass. "My canteen." He was surprised and yet not as much as he should have been.  
  
For a while now, Snufkin had got the idea that he was being followed. Not by something malicious, but followed all the same. Sometimes he would turn around quickly to see if he could catch them. Perhaps he would if he were fast enough. He was about to drink from the canteen when he considered maybe that he didn't know if it were still full of just water. He tipped it up and a dark pink liquid spilled out. It smelled like fruit and magic and scorched the grass. "That's naughty." Snufkin said out loud. He kept the canteen, but did not drink. Soon, he didn't feel thirsty anyway.

Snufkin had been walking a long time without finding any more hours. He decided he'd probably been wrong about the whole thing after all and did a 180 degree turn to go back the way he had come. He stopped however, seeing that behind him, daises had grown up into an arrow pointing East.   
  
"Well, that wasn't there before."   
  
Looks like he was playing some kind of game after all. "Alright. I see. Just no more tricks, okay?"   
  
In better spirits now he'd gotten his next clue, Snufkin set off again. His tail swished in the high grass but he soon had to hold it close to him. He'd entered the trees again. Here they were so thick and dense he was squeezing between branches. Snufkin found himself crouched low and wondered if he should go back to avoid being stuck. However, when he turned back, he saw no place that was big enough for him to squeeze through even though there had been before. He turned back around and a two of the branches moved out of the way right before his eyes. He smiled and continued on.   
  
"Snufkin!"   
  
The Mumrik turned and followed the voice, soon coming out into a bigger clearing. There stood one of the dolls that he'd found. It was one of the resin dolls. She'd been given a whole new body by the looks of it and her face had been repainted. A new wig sat atop her head and a new dress and shoes had been given to her too. She looked a lot better than she had before.   
  
"Quick, Snufkin. I have to give you something and then go back to my new owner!" She hurried over to him, coming to about his knee, and handed Snufkin a note. "What else? Oh yes. They said...face the way you came out of the bushes before you open it!"  
  
"They?"  
  
"You know, them." The doll pointed behind Snufkin. Snufkin turned to look. He didn't see anything or anyone and when he turned back, the doll was already running away. She was surprisingly fast.   
  
Snufkin went back the few steps he'd taken and faced forward as if he'd just come out of the woods. He opened the note. It was pointing left now. He supposed he had to trust that that was the intended direction. He walked and whistled, and then played the tune a little on his mouth organ. The woods around him seemed to brighten at the sound of his music.   
  
In fact, as Snufkin walked, he could see the notes his music played dancing in the air. He slowed down his walking and watched them move. Soon they were twisting into an arrow that led him back the way he came but on a slightly different path. Here he found something that both startled him and made him wonder if whatever tricksy thing that was following him and playing with him knew more about him than Snufkin was comfortable with.   
  
They had found a good number of small white pebbles and arranged them into the shape of a Moomintroll pointing to a mound of dirt that looked incredibly suspicious. Snufkin approached and nudged it with his foot. When nothing too obviously bad happened, he bent down and started to scoop the dirt away with his paws. Underneath, small white mushrooms pointed him once again in a new direction, back, back to where he'd come from. He stood up, looked at the Moomintroll once more and then started to walk again.  
  
It was funny, but the sky didn't seem to have gotten any brighter or darker since he'd started. He could also no longer feel any signs of hunger, thirst or tiredness.   
  
"What are you playing at?" Snufkin said to his surroundings. But walked he did, because not playing this game would likely be a lot more dangerous than going along. Besides, only once they had tried to kill him. He was in doubt that fae were playing with him right now. It wasn't the first time they had done so. Then, suddenly, all at once and with no warning, the sun went down. The sky lit up with stars and Snufkin had to stand and watch them in wonder.  
  
There were the regular stars he knew so well. There were also many dancing stars. Moving shooting stars. Twirling and twisting stars. Bright sparks of light that were moving in ways that stars did not do naturally. As Snufkin watched, they formed an arrow. No, many arrows. He frowned and watched the arrows zoom and squiggle. He grinned and started to run after one.  
  
The arrow exploded in a shower of sparkles and he dived after another. Many times he stumbled and fell. Sometimes rolling down small hills, or splashing in the stream that no doubt led back to that pond. But Snufkin was having too much fun to stop even when his paws were scratched and his knees were bruised. At least, he was back at his tent and the stars settled back into the places they should be. He caught his breath and caught sight of a small glow within the tent.  
  
Many leaves seem to have fallen since he had left. If Snufkin didn't know better, he would say he'd been walking for at least two weeks, not a small number of hours. Perhaps he had been. That meant he would have to speed up if he wanted to be in Moominvalley as Spring started. Not that he had to be...but he wanted to be. Snufkin had grown comfortable with that. The glow in his tent faded as he crawled inside. He found a note and a small bottle of something like silvery sand. He took them both out into the bright autumn moonlight.   
  
'Thank you for playing with us! You're very fun! Please take this as a reward, a dash of this over your head and you will be invisible!'   
  
No one had signed it, but Snufkin had seen such a powder before. Dust from a fae's wings. The very same that kept them all invisible. That should come in handy. Snufkin went back into his tent and tucked it away. He was happy to see his fishing rod was also back, and that they had kindly preserved his food for him. Still, he ate what was left that very night. Who knew when the spell would wear off and the mould would set in? Tricksy old things...


	8. Snufkin and the Joxter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Snufkin meets his father for a third time and they bond in a way that makes sense only to them.

Snufkin slept all through the next day and awoke when it was night. Full of energy and spirit, he packed up and headed out despite the darkness of the night. The moon had waned now. It's ghostly glow was nothing but a scratch in the deep blueness of the sky. There was no merriment up there today. No dancing stars and waving patterns. Just the soft and familiar twinkle of millions of stars. Far too many to count.   
  
Snufkin walked through grass that swayed like shadowy fingers and puddles that lay dark and flat against the ground. His eyes were craned upwards though, letting his legs measure the ground as he walked and adjust accordingly. He could pick out quite a few constellations, though the names he gave them were only his own. Most of all, Snufkin liked he stars that did not seem to join up with anyone. He did not think they were lonely. No, like him, they were happy, twinkling wanderers of the night sky. 

The wind was soft and cold. It was refreshing and Snufkin enjoying the numbing nip at his nose, ears and cheeks. He smiled into the cold and the dark, listening to this secret world all around him. Mumriks were neither completely nocturnal nor diurnal but Snufkin usually slept at night. He enjoyed times where he had energy to travel during what was usually his sleep time then, as it allowed him to experience a new side of the world that many were scared of or just didn't think about. Familiar things like trees and fields became suddenly new. You could look across the field and the world seemed to drop off and disappear outside the scope of your vision. The trees seemed bigger and stronger in the dark. For someone not wanting to be seen, the night was a cloak of comfort and opportunity. Welcomed. Snufkin did not mind if he were seen, not by the eager fireflies that he watched for a while as they practised new dances. Not by the creatures that only came out at night and knew it better than Snufkin could ever hope to. An owl cried softly in the dark. Snufkin smiled a little broader. How wonderful the world is. How peaceful to be able to experience it with all your senses.   
  
There was something special about experiencing it alone too. When you were alone, you didn't have to worry that other people weren't enjoying themselves, or could be in danger. No one wanted to talk when you wished for silence. No one decided that didn't like the plan for the day and so everyone should do something else. There were times when Snufkin highly enjoyed all of those things (being around others, talking to them, caring for them, going along with their ideas) but too much of it was stifling to his very core. He wondered again how the Perfects even managed to think if they lived so closely squashed with one another.

There were many sounds in the darkness. Birds, insects, winds - all this was expected. Snufkin did not expect to hear someone whistling. It was a tune that was somewhat familiar to him, though he didn't know it's name or origin. Snufkin stood and listened for a while. Then, when he was sure he knew it, took out his mouth organ and started to play the tune back to the stranger. The whistling stopped for a moment and then came back stronger than before. Without knowing it, he had started to walk towards the owner of that song.

It seemed the owner had done the same thing too, for he soon saw a figure coming towards him in the dark. Snufkin recognised the figure. It was a little taller than him, but it wore a hat a lot like his, and a coat a lot like his. It had a tail like his and paws like his, though in a darker colour. Snufkin's breast felt a warm smart of familiarity and belonging. The Joxter. His father.   
  
They met each other with a smile. Snufkin pocketed his mouth organ and they embraced each other in a hug. The hug was warm and welcoming. The Joxter pulled away first, holding Snufkin proudly at arms length and taking him in. His new hair cut, the stories his face told by accident.   
  
"Son! How good it is to you here!" The Joxter purred.  
  
"And what a surprise it is." Snufkin gently removed the paws still holding his shoulders. Even touches you liked sometimes went on too long. "Would you like to walk with me a little while?"   
  
"Sure. I wasn't heading anywhere in particular." The Joxter waited for Snufkin to start walking. The Joxter lit his pipe. Snufkin observed this and did so too. It wasn't a conscious act of copying. It was the copying a child did observing an adult whom they trusted to teach them things. The Joxter smiled, his tail swishing a little more vigorously. It wasn't that he didn't like being a father. It was that Mumrik fathers did not feel the need to smother their children. Losing Snufkin had been an accident, anyway.   
  
The Joxter remembered, though he wasn't sure if Snufkin did, the day the child had gone missing. The Joxter dragged a basket behind him through a forest. Inside, a bouncing little boy gurgled and purred. Occasionally, the Joxter was give him a little wave. He could have carried the basket, but he really didn't want to. That was too much like work. Hooking his tail through the handle and dragging it as he walked seem much easier. The child seemed to enjoy it anyway. Eventually the gurgling died down and when the Joxter looked back, Snufkin had curled up and was sleeping soundly. Such a cute little bundle. The Joxter sat the basket down next to a river. He untied his tail and got comfortable at the bank. He tired a string to his toe with his hand made lure on the end. The Joxter sat the line out, laid back, propped his head down over his face and was soon fast asleep himself. When he woke up, it was because he was half-sitting in the river. The bank was softer than it looked and he'd slowly slid into the water. So had, unfortunately, the basket containing his child. That basket had been carried far away by the time the Joxter woke up. Not that he would have run after it. He didn't believe in running unless he absolutely had to. He trusted that Snufkin would be fine and in fact, he had been. He couldn't have been any more proud.

Snufkin was curious about where his father had been and what he had seen, but didn't ask. The Joxter, sensing this, began a story of his travels anyway. Between puffs and his pipe, he beguiled Snufkin with his recent and most exciting adventures. He didn't ask for the other to return the favour, but wanted him to. So, Snufkin did. The two Mumrik's talked softly and puffed their pipes and then walked together in happy silence. So that was that, they knew where the other had been and what he had been doing. When their pipes were both out, their walk seemed to stop naturally.   
  
"I think I'll go this way." The Joxter said, pointing his thumb in a random direction.  
  
"I'm going this way, back to Moominvalley."   
  
"Visiting your mother?"  
  
"Not exactly."   
  
"Oh? Visiting...someone else?"  
  
"I know quite a remarkable Moomintroll."   
  
The Joxter recognised the particular shine in his sons face and laughed heartily. "I see I see! To be young and eager to chase love!"  
  
"No, that's not it..."  
  
"Sure sure." The Joxter's laughs subsided. "I won't pry. Do your best." That was all the advice he had to give. He didn't want to fuss and bother about his sons love life. He trusted Snufkin to get by. "You're of that age after all. Even your fur is starting to grow in."   
  
Snufkin reached to itch at the small patch of dark hair that was growing down from his usual hairline and would soon grow down to cover his nose just like The Joxters. It was fine hair, always short. Snufkin thought it made his father look fatherly. He couldn't imagine himself looking that grown up. As he'd been thinking this, The Joxter had started to walk away. Snufkin gave him a little wave, though the other couldn't see, and started to walk.   
  
In love? Was that what it looked like when he spoke of Moomintroll? Was he? Snufkin's stomach curled into a tight knot.


	9. Snufkin and the Accident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Snufkin gets in an accident and is helped by those whose lives he influenced.

By the time the sun was starting to rise, Snufkin was tired and chilled. Even in Spring, the mornings still brought a shiver to him. He found a place to fish, caught himself some late-supper, early-breakfast and set up for a short nap. He hoped he wouldn't sleep all day again, as he didn't want to get his body clock used to such a schedule. Night was wonderful and magical but so was the day and you could miss so much by staying asleep during it.

Lucky for Snufkin, his body clock seemed to be reading from the same page that he was and woke him up just after midday. The world had really warmed up by then and he could see the first signs of Spring in this part of the world. A little known fact about Mumrik's is that they can travel great distances if so inclined to, which is a little magic they possess without really even knowing it. Otherwise, he'd never got to go on adventures and back to Moominvalley again in the course of a few short months. If time meant nothing to you, you got a lot more done. 

Snufkin stopped to admire some daffodils bravely sprouting through leaves that were still rotting all around them. They were ready a little early this year. Snufkin admired them in a way, not waiting until it was socially acceptable to sprout, just doing what felt right. Surely plants had some kind of will after all, they were alive. So it didn't seem too absurd to him that maybe they choose when it felt best to grow and bloom. He hoped these early ones would last long enough to see their fellows come up to greet them.

Put into a rather cheerful mood, Snufkin took out his mouth organ and started to play. He played and he skipped, he skipped and he played, his tail held high in jubilation. He switched between three or his favourite Spring Songs, then into the song The Joxter had been whistling and humming in the dark. It had been very nice to see him again. Snufkin felt a little more full after that experience. He never did notice that there was space in his heart for The Joxter when it was empty, only when it was full. It always waited very nicely to be filled again, not making a bother in his spirit. That was the best way to be, simply expectant in the back of your mind and glad to find you wanted to see someone a lot after all only when you do see them again.

Snufkin only slowed when the ground started to become unusually spongy beneath his boots. He was sure he wasn't near any kind of swamp or moorland, but tried to go around the soft spots anyway. He found himself straying more and more sideways, desperately trying to keep North. He stored his mouth organ away for safety. At last his luck gave out. As he sprang from one spot to another that looked more dry, the thump of his weight completely displaced the already sliding sod. Snufkin _fell_.  
  
He had no time to regain his balance, only to catch himself the best that he could as the Earth slid below him. That one rumble started another, and another, and the whole world seemed to be sliding forwards and down from around him. Snufkin scrambled forwards on all fours. His boots kicked him deeper into the thick clay-like mud, his paws grabbing great big handfuls of it and finding no purchase. When he finally did find more stable ground, Snufkin clung to the grass on top and held tight, eyes closed, letting the world settle around him. When he opened his eyes, he saw that the mud was no longer sliding and he was no longer going to slide down with it. He was, however, more than half buried in the mud. The whole side of this hill looked like a giant had come and dug a lump out with it's spade. Snufkin's paws and arms ached from where he was holding on. He couldn't be sure how far he'd sink if he let go though, so forced himself to hold on. He needed to think.   
  
Snufkin wriggled one leg experimentally. The ground all around it was still soft. He wasn't going to be able to free himself except by going upwards and out. He cautiously wiped mud from his eyes and mouth with one paw, then held on again. The grass was strong and sharp, cutting into the soft underside of his paws. Gathering his strength, Snufkin pulled. He had gathered a great fistful of the long grass, right by it's roots, but the distribution of his strength wasn't even. As he tried to pull, he felt a few of the blades start to come up by the root. Snufkin stopped. He was really in trouble here.   
  
"Oh, h-hello down there! I-is that yuh-you, Sn-nuh-nufkin?"   
  
Snufkin looked up. The furry pink-nosed snout of the Bookish was looking over the edge at him. He was crouched in a position that suggested he was aware the ground was unstable and very good at making sure he stayed up.   
  
"Hello. What brings you here?" Snufkin replied as though he weren't in peril, even now feeling the ground below wanting to keep shifting.   
  
"Looking for new b-books. Th-there's a coll-l-lector nearby." The Bookish said. "You shouldn't take baths in m-mud you know, e-e-especially around here, it's known f-f-for lands-slides!"  
  
"I'm not exactly here by choice." Snufkin replied. The Bookish pulled a surprised face. Then nodded seriously. Of course! Snufkin was such a free soul, why would he put himself into mud like that? No no. The Bookish admired Snufkin quite a lot for the way he had stuck it to the Perfects when his own kind had been unable. He wanted to help out. The Bookish sniffed at the ground around them.  
  
"Hmm, should still be...stable..." He muttered.   
  
"Can you get me out?"  
  
"Oh m-me? Afraid not. I'm good at d-digging h-holes but getting things up from them w-well that's d-different." The Bookish pondered for a moment. "If I c-could find someone to p-pull you up as I d-d-dug under then mmmmaybe..."   
  
"Do hurry." Snufkin replied, the effort it took him to keep holding on evident in his face.   
  
The Bookish jumped and nodded. "Y-yes! Hold on, I'll g-g-get help!"   
  
Then he was gone and Snufkin was alone once again. The mud was drying on his face by now. He tried wriggling a leg again. It didn't feel like he'd start another landslide if he let go, but he would sink more and that was fairly frightening. It was very easy to suffocate under the mud. Snufkin kept his mind busy with old stories as he waited and with that curious thought of how small the world was to run into the Bookish again. His arms had started to feel numb. That made holding on easier. He wasn't hanging, exactly, and that also made the holding easier. He leaned his elbows into the little ledge and that took some pressure off too.   
  
Hours later, when Snufkin was starting to wonder if the Bookish would ever come back, the Bookish poked his snout over the hole again. He waved and motioned down the stretch of displaced mud at something that was scrambling towards Snufkin. Or more accurately, over a dozen somethings. Snufkin was surprised once more.  
  
Dolls. All newly made up and cleaned, risking getting dirty as they rushed over to him. Their steps were so light they barely sank into the mud at all. The first to reach him was made of fabric and stuffed with cotton. She was striped from top to bottom. "Hiya, Snufkin!" She giggled, climbing onto his hat. Snufkin was glad his hat had been jammed hard down on his head, he would never have found it under the mud. More of the light dolls climbed up and over him, whispering or giggling their hello as they started to make a chain up his arm. Snufkin looked up the best he could and saw that bigger dolls, made of plastic and resin were at the top, ready to complete that chain. The ones at the very bottom wrapped around his arms. It took two to make a manacle around his arms. When they pulled themselves tight, they looked a lot flatter.   
  
"How clever you are, but you'll need a huge pull to-!"  
  
"Huge pull you say!"   
  
Snufkin knew that squawking voice. He looked up and saw the long beak of the Laripet. It was yet another surprise. Why would the Laripet want to travel so far inland just to save him? Had they all remembered him so fondly that a small creature yelling about how he needed help would bring them running?   
  
"Small world, hey Snufkin?" The Laripet chuckled. "Surprise of us when a Bookish came scrambling around, asking if anyone knew a Snufkin and was willing to help! But you and I we're travellers, aren't we? Both travellers, yes!" It chuckled and took it's place at the end of the chain. It ceased a doll in it's beak with her permission. It's huge sticky foot held fast and strong to the ground.   
  
"We were all given to the children under the Filyjonk's care." One of the dolls around Snufkin's arm said. "We had to help, we were having such a nice time thanks to you. The children are so nice, they'll wash us for sure."   
  
Snufkin hadn't noticed that the Bookish had moved until his head popped up from under the mud around Snufkin. "Just a little more and w-w-we'll be done!" He started to scoop the mud on top of Snufkin away with his large shovel like paws and claws. Then he dived under and Snufkin felt the ground below him loosen a little. It struck a bolt of fear into him for a moment. Then all of a sudden, he was being pulled upwards. The Laripet was moving slowly backwards and the dolls all tightened their grips. They didn't feel ache or tiredness, so only the strength of their bodies worked against them. Everyone yelled encouragement to each other as they pulled.   
  
Finally, Snufkin was freed with a large pop! and a cry of victory and relief went up from all. They didn't stop until Snufkin was up and over the lip of the hole. There they all collapsed happily, laughing and cheering and congratulating each other. The Bookish popped out of the earth next to them, a clump of mud and grass on his head. Everyone laughed again. The Bookish blushed and shook mud from himself, but soon joined in the fun too.  
  
"Thank you everyone." Snufkin said. He didn't know what else to say. He was so used to helping others and getting himself out of trouble that he was now stuck for what to do in a different way. Everyone seemed to understand. The Laripet showed everyone to the nearby river and they all washed. They talked of everything except the rescue and everyone was happier for that. The sun was nice and bright today. They foraged together and ate what they found, sitting in much firmer grass and getting dry. It was just getting dark again when Snufkin started to walk away. He said a quick goodbye, another thank you and left. They didn't understand why he wanted to go so soon, but Snufkin was a little weird after all. They didn't hold it against him even though they didn't understand him very well.  
  
Moominvalley...Snufkin could see the top of the mountains that would take him down into that valley. He wanted to be there. He craved the familiarity in a way he never thought he would.


	10. Snufkin and Moomintroll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Snufkin returns to his dear friend.

Over the Lonely Mountains, down their innermost slope, there is a short cluster of trees. Past those trees there is a joyful bubbling river. Over the river there is a bridge and on that bridge, there sits a Moomintroll.   
  
Spring had been but two weeks in Moominvalley and the grass had started to grow back from it's winter sleep. Dew clung to the strands as morning started to warm everything. Moomintroll shivered where he sat, looking expectantly into the trees. Whenever he heard something large crunching through the trees, his tail would automatically start to wag and his ears would perk up. It wasn't what he waiting for though. It never was.   
  
Moominmamma walked down from the Moominhouse, carrying a tray of pancakes. "He'll come soon dear. You really shouldn't pine for him so, it's not good for your digestion."   
  
"I'm not pining, Mamma." Moomintroll insisted, helping his chilled self to the warm treat. "I'm just waiting. The Hobgoblin made sure of that."  
  
"Oh yes, I remember." Moominmamma smiled. She worried that her son was becoming lonely. Little My was often still in the valley, but she was spending more and more time with her family. Sniff, the Snork and the Snork Maiden had all moved away long ago.   
  
This was a thought that came to Moomintroll's mind too. He missed the Snork Maiden most of all out of the friends who used to stay in Moominvalley. He remembered her beauty and bravery quite well. He remembered the way her bangle glittered in the sunlight and made her look prettier still. But, those memories were dripped in nostalgia and he couldn't help but think they'd never really understood each other. Now he was grown, Moomintroll wondered if he would have made a better boyfriend. Ah well. There was no one he wanted to see more right now than Snufkin. Maybe he'd talk about how much he'd grown to Snufkin. Snufkin would be able to tell him if he'd really grown. Snufkin wouldn't laugh at him. He'd listen and he'd be kind and just stern enough if he got silly. Just like Moominmamma was with Moominpappa.  
  
That made Moomintroll's thoughts turn a different way. He barely noticed when he'd finished the pancakes and his mother had taken the plate and tray away, tsking good-naturedly at her daydreaming son. The more Moomintroll thought, the more he could see parallels between his parents and himself and Snufkin. "Why, our love is just like theirs!" he said aloud. But what did that mean? Did it make them more than friends? Did he want to be more than friends?  
  
Moomintroll felt familiar butterflies in his stomach. He'd felt it with every beautiful creature he'd set his eyes upon and he'd felt it about Snufkin many times before. It had taken him a lot longer to realise just how often Snufkin caused that feeling, through all the awe he had for the Mumrik. Moomintroll shifted on the bridge. He held his tail and fiddled with it nervously. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't at first hear the sound of boots coming through the trees. He did however, hear a song so familiar and sweet that he had to drop his tail because it wanted to wag so feverishly.  
  
"Snufkin!" Moomintroll called into the trees, laughing. "Snufkin!"   
  
He rose to his feet, tottered slightly and then gained his balance once more. There was a faint heat in his cheeks that grew when he saw Snufkin come through the trees playing his Spring Song on the mouth organ. Moomintroll jumped up and down in delight and then hurried over. He seized his friend in a hug that took away Snufkin's breath and made him chuckle. This time, instead of politely pushing Moomintroll away, Snufkin embraced him tightly. Maybe this would be the spring and summer where he talked more openly about his feelings. He trusted Moomintroll with his feelings. He knew that the other would still let him be himself and would not request his presence if Snufkin didn't wish to be around. Snufkin had a place in his heart now for this special and remarkable Moomintroll for as long as it would last.  
  
As they stood, holding each other tight, warming each other with their bodies, Moomintroll's heart felt bright and full of love. For the first time in a long time, so did Snufkin's.

* * *

In a house, by the woods, where Autumn was now in full swing, there was a lady. Ellenora had finished clearing out the old things her husband had left behind. Some things were donated and some things were thrown away. The more special things were kept, including a picture of them together she could keep by her bed. The house smelled of freshly baked goods once again, but there was another undertone. The undertone of earth from Ellenora's muddy boots in the corner. She wondered if Snufkin was somewhere warm by now and hoped he was doing fine and having a great adventure. She knew that she found something new every single day and privately, she thanked him for it.


End file.
